Netflix’s newest Christmas romcom, “The Princess Switch 3: Romanticizing the Star,” joined the streaming platform on November 18, just in time for Thanksgiving and the Christmas season.
The third movie of “The Princess Switch” series, “The Princess Switch 3” captured the true magic of love, kindness, forgiveness, and of course, Christmas, all in its 106-minute run time.
When Princess Stacy and Lady Margaret, Queen of Montenaro, cochair an international Christmas festival, all the characters, especially their respective husbands—both royalties of course—pitch in to make the festival the best it can be.
The Star of Peace, a sacred relic from the Vatican, is bestowed upon Stacy and Margaret to be the centerpiece of the festival. The relic is to be guarded until the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree.
This special star quickly proves to be the most important part of the movie.
When the star is stolen from the palace, Stacy and Margaret ask Lady Fiona Pembroke, a flashy and slightly promiscuous woman who is currently serving her community service sentence at a convent, to help, as she has no issue breaking the rules.
Fiona agrees to help Margaret under the condition that Margaret will put in a good word for her during her hearing after Christmas. After Margaret pulls some string, Fiona is released from her duties at the convent and significantly aids in the finding of the star.
Fiona visits Peter Maxwell, her ex-boyfriend, and after a melodramatic trip down memory lane, he agrees to help. Together, they track down and capture the star for the betterment of the common good. “The Princess Switch 3” draws from the format of most Christmas rom coms and hasa healthy mix of both typical and unique plot lines.
It is not, by any stretch of the means, realistic, but that is to be expected.
Regardless of how romcom-y the movie may be, Vanessa Hudgens, best known for her star role of Gabriella in “High School Musical,” did a phenomenal job playing all three roles. She had the daunting task of role switching like that of Lindsay Lohan in “The Parent Trap.”
Vanessa Hudgens deserves a standing ovation. As do the cinematography, and makeup teams.
The setting of the movie, Montenaro, is captivating. The palace is perfectly decorated for Christmas. It’s certainly worthy of applause.
Like any Hallmark movie there are few corny moments that are hard to get through, but thankfully they were over quickly.
The most exciting aspect of the movie is the love story. The love story contrasts from the expected story of any movie of this nature. And in Fiona’s own words, “It was for the best.”
But don’t worry – it all works out in the end.
The main complaint was that “The Princess Switch 3,” a Christmas romcom, lacked Christmas for the better part of the movie. Yes, it began and ended with an explosion of Christmas, but after the first twenty minutes, Christmas disappeared. It’s almost as if the movie turned into a spy, crime-solving movie.
For the entirety of the last half an hour, Christmas beautifully returns, and the handful of life lessons appear: people who make bad mistakes are not bad people, family is family, and so on.
It’s all the family-friendly morals we expect in a Christmas movie.
The twenty-five-minute prolongation of all relationship reparations, life lessons, and positive personality changes ran a little too long – ten minutes would suffice.
We really don’t need so many scenes of these sentiments. While lovely for the first thirty seconds, it quickly becomes draining, even during the season of magic, light and love.
And as per usual, the movie ends as the magic of Christmas compels the couple to kiss at the perfect moment in front of the perfectly lighted Christmas tree with romantic, Christmas-y music flowing around them. “Princess Switch 3” may not be the greatest Christmas rom-com of all time, but if you are in the mood for corny love sprinkle of Christmas spirit over this winter season, it is the perfect movie for you.
