The King's Daughter
King Louis XIV's quest for immortality leads him to capture and steal a mermaid's life force, a move that is further complicated by his illegitimate daughter's discovery of the creature.
- Released: 2022-01-21
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Benjamin Walker, Rachel Griffiths, Julie Andrews, Fan Bingbing, William Hurt, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Paul Ireland, Pablo Schreiber, Crystal Clarke, Kaya Blocksage, Kasia Kaczmarek, Tom Morton, Tiffany Hofstetter, Jessica Clarke, Virginia Bowers, Marc de Panda, Jorja Lindsay, Diane Duquesne, Jean-Baptiste Sagory
- Director: Sean McNamara
Comments
- LW-08854 - 27 December 2023
Cliched script and horrible effects.
A truly awful film, right from the opening narration you know it's going to be bad, as though it's a kids bedtime story or something. The music is whimsical, the wigs look terrible, I was roaring with laughter during certain points, it's so misconceived. There's horrible dumps of exposition, the acting is iffy, the humour is dire and one of the worst things is actually the costumes which look like they've been pulled from a 2013 vogue photoshoot. The haircuts and makeup too are far too modern, the casting doesn't work, they want to make out the king is this great laddies man but we never ever see anything to suggest that's true. Some of the guys look like they have a bottle of hairspray on their head, I feel like I'm in a Steps music video from 1998 not a film from the 21st century about 1600s France. I'd love to know who the historian was on this film. Because this must be aimed at girls you of course have the awful love triangle, the horrible rich spoilt suitor and then handsome humble one, cliched is thrown on top of cliché, the princess who's rebelling, the thing is full of pop music, it's so badly done. They even have a free willy moment too. I can't really think of a single good thing to say about this film. Awful. I know it's a PG film but really, this was just a disaster. - jboothmillard - 4 March 2023
The King's Daughter
I read more into this film when it received nominations at the Razzies, I found out it was completed and due for release in 2015, but the studios were not happy with the initial cut. The release was cancelled, with claims that more time was needed to complete special effects work; the film sat on the shelf for over eight years, due to various delays in production, and of course the coronavirus pandemic, but I question if there was any point, directed by Sean McNamara (Casper: A Spirited Beginning, Bratz: The Movie). Basically, set in the 17th century, Marie-Josèphe (Crawl's Razzie nominated Kaya Scodelario) was born and raised in a convent in France, she is a rebellious free spirit often causing trouble for the Abbess (Rachel Griffiths). After an assassination attempt on his life, Marie-Josèphe's father, King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan), fears for his own mortality. Dr. Labarthe (Pablo Schreiber, half-brother of Liev Schreiber) tells the king about a magical underwater creature that can grant him immortality. The procedure involves cutting out the creature's heart during an eclipse. Louis sends a group of fishermen, led by Captain Yves De La Croix (Benjamin Walker), to capture the creature, a Mermaid (Razzie nominated Bingbing Fan). The mermaid's mate is also caught, but he released by Yves before heading back to France. The king requests Father Pere La Chaise (William Hurt, his posthumous last role) to travel to the convent to bring Marie-Josèphe back, telling her that she will be travelling to play music in Versailles. Upon arriving in Versailles, Marie-Josèphe befriends servant Magali (Crystal Clarke), but no one else knows she is the king's daughter. The following morning, Louis meets with Jean-Michel Lintillac (Ben Lloyd-Hughes), son of a wealthy baron who is gravely ill and close to death, meaning will Lintillac inherit a fortune and prestige. While out for a walk with Magali, Marie-Josèphe meets Yves, and the two fall in love. She also meets Lintillac and her father for the first time, though he still doesn't tell her about his relation to her. The mermaid is brought into a chamber beneath the castle. Later, as Marie-Josèphe is in her room practising playing her violin, she follows a strange noise to the mermaid's prison. Yves enters shortly after and is fascinated to see Marie-Josèphe's connection with the creature. At a grand ball the next day, Marie-Josèphe shares a dance with Louis. She later finds him outside painting a picture of a woman called Louise, telling Marie-Josèphe that she reminds him of her. Louis appoints Lintillac with the title of Duke, and an honorary dinner is held for him. Marie-Josèphe visits the mermaid again and joins her underwater. Yves later takes Marie-Josèphe for a horse ride, but she falls and severely breaks her arm. Labarthe says that the arm will need to be amputated, but Yves takes her and Magali to the mermaid, who completely heals Marie-Josèphe's arm. Marie-Josèphe assumes that Louis has brought the mermaid to France to heal people, but she is told that the mermaid is only there for the king. Louis arranges for Lintillac to marry Marie-Josèphe so that they can share in Lintillac's fortune. Louis admits to Marie-Josèphe about being her father and that he wants her to marry Lintillac. She refuses and runs away crying, leaving Louis feeling remorseful. La Chaise goes to visit the mermaid and realises she is a sentient being. He confronts Labarthe and Louis about keeping the creature prisoner, but they both refuse to change their minds. Marie-Josèphe goes to see the mermaid, who shows her a telepathic vision of her capture. Meanwhile, Yves slips a picture under Marie-Josèphe's door showing the procedure and revealing the king's true plans. She confronts Louis, telling him that she will marry Lintillac if he releases the mermaid, but he refuses. As wedding preparations go ahead, La Chaise and Marie-Josèphe go to the chamber where Yves is trying to get the mermaid out. Labarthe catches them, but they fight him off, giving the mermaid time to escape. Labarthe shoots Yves, who falls into the water, but he is rescued by the fleeing mermaid. Marie-Josèphe gets Labarthe caught in a water wheel that pulls him underwater, drowning him. Marie-Josèphe makes it to a cliff where she is due to rendezvous with Yves and his crew, Yves is there after being healed by the mermaid. Louis and his men arrive and prepare to kill the mermaid as the eclipse approaches, but Marie-Josèphe gives him a dilemma: he can save his own life or hers, as she jumps off the cliff and hits the water hard. Louis has no choice but to tell his men to stand down so that the mermaid can revive Marie-Josèphe. Louis watches Marie-Josèphe and Yves leave, and the mermaid swims home. La Chaise praises Louis as a great king and a great man. Marie-Josèphe and Yves go in search of the city of Atlantis so that Marie-Josèphe may reunite with the mermaid, and she takes her underwater to see the city up close. Narrated by Julie Andrews, also starring Paul Ireland as Benoit, Terry Norris as Great Chamberlain, Kaya Blocksage as Duchesse De Fontagnes, Kasia Kaczmarek as Sister Constance, Jessica Clarke as Madame Devereaux, Tiffany Hofstetter as Mother, Virginia Bowers as Marie-Josephe's Mother, and Sean McNamara as Helmsman. Brosnan is okay as the somewhat strict king, Scodelario is rather dull as the title character, Walker doesn't do much, and Fan as the magical creature is just meh. The story and plot only work in tiny moments, but it is all over the place, there are no characters you truly care about, it is full of predictable and clichéd moments, and the special effects are not very good, it is just a messy, fairly boring action-adventure fantasy. It was nominated the Razzie for Worst Picture. Adequate! - chelseajmbelehar - 15 September 2022
Beautiful
Aside from the modern dresses and pop music it was a good movie. The story anti-climactic and honestly the villain was a complete let down. That was the most wasted talent of a good actor. It felt like the writers forgot all about him them remembered and wrote up a quick high school level ending. The visuals were great with beautifully made CGI. No corny CGI either! The acting was alright for most but the scenes with Pierce Brosnan and Kaya Scodelario were great! William Hurt and Benjamin Walker are the best supporting cast you could ask for!
Overall visually good, acting good but with obvious plot. BUT STOP PUTTING POP SONGS IN NON-MODERN MOVIES! I can't even appreciate them because it just sounds so out of place!
You couldn't come up with a song that fit the times and said what you wanted to say!!! - d_zemljic - 20 May 2022
Amazed at anything above 3
First of all, this film is stupid. Fashion of the king Louis XIV. Court was far off the reality, it seems it was done deliberatley, like we want to make the story (which story, anyway?) more contemporary, but since it appears only in flashes it doesn't make any sense, and I don't believe it was any cheaper but i might be wrong, maybe it was just made because it was cheaper. Secondly, nobody paid any attention to the history, there was a historic king Louis XIV, with some Pere Lachaise (a cemetery ?) role who should really be a cardinal Mazarin, not at all a soft William Hurt personality. Just one of the many sheer stupidities in the film. However, after loghing loud (maybe even LOL) many times during the film monstrosities, the final nail in the coffin for me was at the end when (after Maya Scodelario is swimming crawl) the king's musketeer said, "I have a clean shot, Majesty", as if musketeers in the XVII. Century had a guns with a "clean shot" on a 200-500 meters target and could or would use that kind of vocabulary - please, please, please - this was the ultimate laugh of the film which was probably not intended as a comedy.
