Writing film reviews can lead us to explore our own vision, idea, perception and from what angle we see this or that story. It helps us travel into a whole different world without leaving the comfort of our chair: getting into high conflicts, espionage and war with no bullets flying around. That is the cinematic universe that never gets boring until the moment, sadly, when I saw “The King’s Daughter.”
Adapted from Vonda N. Mclntyre’s novel The Moon and the Sun, it follows a very selfish, ego-centric and arrogant king of France, King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan), who, after surviving an attempted assassination, is obsessed with immortality. That’s when his doctor told him about the mermaid with magical powers, if captured and killed during the upcoming solar eclipse, he may become immortal. However, when he is close to executing his plan, his rebellious daughter Marie-Josephe offers him to make a hard choice.
The film starts with Pierce Brosnan’s King Louis XIV getting shot by an enemy. That’s when he became fearful for his life. In the meantime, we meet a young woman named Marie-Josephe, who lives in a convent, far from the castle and does not know she is the King’s daughter. Do not ask how and why would the King hide such important information from his own daughter, and even the reason provided is not close to satisfactory. Still, it’s the reality of the storyline, whether we want it or not.
And that’s the whole problem of the film. Everything is so forced, it feels as if you were at gunpoint. The whole story is so extremely dull, no matter how hard I tried, I barely could process it. As for the performances, it is the worst I have seen. It was so bad, I felt the pain in my head after not realizing I have been scratching it all along. But that’s what the film does. It tries to play the serious game with cheap cards, with a budget of forty million dollars that, trust me, could have been spent much wiser and for a better project.
I am not sure who is to blame for such poor execution – director Sean McNamara, writers, or the actual novel. Furthermore, it is just so painful to watch, you must be prepared for the worst. And I just don’t believe it is just me who disliked the film altogether. Because most of the time, I like even bad films, because there is always room for doubt. But with this piece, there is no doubt. For the sake of your own time and sanity, try to avoid it as much as you can. Because time is everything and it won’t get refunded no matter what.
