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One Movie Punch


Dec 6, 2018

Hi everyone!

Welcome back to the podcast. This will be the second of two episodes today as we’re in the final stretch of getting caught up, both on episodes and what was happening while the podcast was offline. I’ll be continuing my story in a minute, but if you haven’t heard the earlier segments, hit pause, then go back to my review for “Outlaw King” (Episode #314) for the first segment, then listen every episode after that for another installment. Let me know you’re listening by sharing this episode with #WelcomeBackOMP. 

Last segment, I was talking about a wall leak that was fixed, but there wasn’t any hot water. I called back the guy, and he said that he must have forgotten to pull the hot water handle. Or something. I’m not a plumber. He walked me through it over the phone, and I climbed up on the water heater to pull the lever. And when I did, one of the pipes came apart, and a second seep immediately began. Water was now spraying everywhere, not just misting out of the pipe. I reapplied the hot water handle, then pulled the water main again. He definitely had to come back out.

And he did about thirty minutes later, and began diagnosing the problem. Turns out one of the parts he used was stripped, so he left to get a replacement. I worked on the podcast while he was gone, after mopping up as much water as possible from the garage floor. He returned from the big box hardware store, letting me know that many of the particular part had the same problem, which felt like little time bombs waiting to go off, like mine. The plumber handled it, and we tested everything in the house this time before he left. We still have a hole in our interior garage wall, which needs to get patched, but we no longer had a leak. And when I went back to continue working on the podcast, decided that I probably had had enough for one day.

More on the upcoming changes to the podcast in the next three episodes, then we’ll be back to regular format. Until we’re not.

Today’s movie is “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” (2018), the Netflix Original and MPCA holiday sequel to last year’s “A Christmas Prince”, directed by John Schultz and written for the screen by Nate Atkins, based on characters developed by Karen Schaler. The films rejoins Amber (Rose McIver) and now King Richard (Ben Lamb), about one year later as they prepare to get married on Christmas Day. However, not everyone accepts Amber, nor King Richard’s modernization efforts, and multiple conflicts ensue, along with their expected resolutions.

Spoilers ahead.

When this sequel was first announced, I joked a lot about having to watch the first film, “A Christmas Prince” (Episode #338), so I wouldn’t be confused about the story. It’s another MPCA production with a “made for television” feel, so we don’t really get a challenging set of mysteries and conflicts to resolve. But while it’s not required to watch the first film, I’m glad I did, for the sake of this review, so I could compare and contrast, or in this case, compare and compare, the two films. And while doing some further research for both reviews, compare these films to other holiday royalty fairy tale films. 

“The Royal Wedding” follows nearly all the rules of sequels, expanding the cast of characters, reusing all the segments and themes that landed well, and fulfilling any promises made in the first film. The cast has returned, mostly intact, with a jarring switch for Amber’s father Rudy, who was played by Daniel Fathers in the first film, and John Guerrasio in the sequel. Rudy has a much more important role in this film, handling the role of bringing sense to the royals, so that Amber can not only challenge protocol for the wedding, but also help King Richard’s modernization effort succeed. Amber deals less with the dress and more with investigating why the kingdom is hemorrhaging money. Heart-warming and hilarity ensue.

“The Royal Wedding” is structurally and thematically nearly identical to the first film, sometimes recreating entire scenes from the first film, such as a tobogganing scene with the full royal family, or the fascination with archery, or a surprise twist that brings the thief behind the program failure to justice. And, of course, we get the wedding, which is quickly staged, rushed, and marks the end of the promise during their reception, where protocol is freely discarded, and they conga into the night. Not much in terms of wrap-up, because let’s face it, “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby” is probably in the works right now for next year. And I’ll review it. Probably.

“A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” (2018) is the heartwarming sequel to “A Christmas Prince” (2017), following the royal couple during the chaos leading up to their wedding. It continues and expands the franchise, evolving the characters just enough to maintain the charm of the first film, not to mention the promise of more to come. Holiday film fans, and fans of the first film, should definitely check out this film. Anyone else, just know you’re in for yet another holiday fairy tale involving royalty.

Rotten Tomatoes: NR

Metacritic: NR

One Movie Punch: 6.6/10

“A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” (2018) is rated TV-PG and is currently streaming on Netflix.