The King's Daughter

Once upon a time, in that far off year of 1997, the author Vonda N. McIntyre wrote a novel called The Moon and the Sun, which was met with much praise, and even was able to win the prestigious Nebula Award for Best Novel, over such stiff competition as George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.  Its mix of historical fact, lavish fantasy and romance enchanted readers, and it was not long until Hollywood came calling for a film adaptation. 

By 1999, a film was in the works with the Jim Henson Studio, but even though that fell through, a variety of studios over the years, including the Walt Disney Company, tried to bring McIntyre's story to life with visions of box office gold in their heads.  However, for the longest time, it simply was not to be.  But then, Paramount Pictures finally got an adaptation off the ground, filled with recognizable stars such as Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Fan Bingbing, and William Hurt.  That movie was filmed back in 2014, and was set to hit screens a year later in the Spring of 2015.  But, a funny thing happened.  A mere three weeks before it was supposed to enter wide release, the film was pulled with no explanation, other than the special effects needed more work.  After that, everything went quiet, and nobody seemed to want to talk about the film in question.

Now here it is January 2022, and the film shot eight years ago is finally hitting the screens as The King's Daughter.  Paramount has long disowned it, so it's been put under the umbrella of independent studio, Gravitas Ventures.  Was the eight-year wait fans of the novel had to endure worth it?  Judging that this movie is being dumped in theaters like a dirty secret with little to no promotion, you probably already know the answer to that.  Featuring a cheesy look, special effects that would have looked dated back in 2015 when it was originally planned to come out, choppy editing that has scenes suddenly starting and stopping on a whim, wooden performances, and questionable direction, this is a dead in the water fantasy film that was hardly worth dragging out long after most probably stopped caring.

Set in an 1864 Paris that finds everyone speaking with a British accent, King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan, wearing a goofy wig) becomes obsessed with immortality after an attempt on his life is made.  His shady and scheming personal doctor (Pablo Schreiber) tells the King that the secret to immortality lies with a mermaid, who apparently have healing powers.  If the mermaid is sacrificed during an eclipse, King Louis can use its life force to gain eternal life.  How and why the doctor believes this, and what an eclipse has to do with any of this, the movie fails to explain.  This is despite the fact that the movie comes equipped with a storybook Narrator (voiced by Julie Andrews), who sadly only opens and ends the story, but doesn't explain anything else that happens in between.  A running commentary might have helped.

A Mermaid (Fan Bingbing) is stolen from her home in the Lost City of Atlantis, and placed in a grotto-like prison, where she swims around, waiting for her fate.  At that same time, the King's illegitimate daughter, Marie (Kaya Scodelario), is brought to live at the palace.  Marie discovers the presence of the Mermaid, and the two bond, giving the viewer the desire that this will turn into a family friendly take on The Shape of Water.  Sadly, it's not to be.  Marie is a free spirit, feels that the Mermaid should be free as well, and when she learns of her father's intentions for it, devises a plan with the King's hunky Sea Captain (Benjamin Walker, who fell in love with Scodelario while shooting this movie, married her, and had two children with her before it came out) to set it free.  Oh, and somewhere in the middle of this, there's William Hurt as the King's Priest, who plays his role here as if he lost a bet, and is thinking of the long, sad talk he's going to have with his agent when the shoot is over.

Despite being given permission to film scenes within the actual Palace of Versailles, The King's Daughter has an overall cheap look that features questionable CGI for the scenes concerning the Mermaid, and some truly ugly sets throughout, such as the underground grotto where the Mermaid is kept prisoner looking like something out of a cheap theme park attraction.  Scenes that are supposed to fill the audience with wonder, such as when the Mermaid takes Marie swimming with her, or when we lay eyes on the Lost City of Atlantis, fail to create the slightest emotion, which is probably its biggest crime.  And what are we to make of the editing, which seems incredibly choppy, and with out of place music montages?  Simply glancing at a random ten minutes of the film is enough to tell you that this was a troubled production, and why Paramount lost so much faith in it.

Perhaps one day The King's Daughter will inspire a fascinating documentary about the making of it, but it has not inspired a watchable movie.  The blame should not be laid at the source novel, as apparently, the movie made a lot of changes.  Something has gone horribly wrong, and I have a feeling a lot of the people involved wished this movie was still being hidden.

0 comments