The Wedding Bells Ring..."A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding"

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018)

TV-PG

Starring Rose McIver, Ben Lamb, Alice Krige, Honor Kneafsey, Sarah Douglas, Theo Devaney, John Guerrasio,

Directed by John Schultz

The Story:

It's been a year since the events of A Christmas Prince. Amber (McIver) has been blogging away but now it's time to jet back to Aldovia for her Christmas Day wedding to King Richard (Lamb). However, the protocol of the proceedings and the palace's insistence on how the wedding, and Queen-to-be-Amber's life are to be run may end up killing the marriage long before the big day. However if that doesn't sound dramatic enough, there is also a financial crisis plaguing the kingdom and casting doubt on the King's effectiveness already!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a sequel to last year's Christmas hit, but apparently enough Netflix viewers watched to warrant a sequel.

Like most sequels, they don't quite live up to the bar established by the predecessor, and that too is the case here.

The falling in love angle is already done, the charming cast established, so now what?

Putting Amber's lifestyle in direct conflict with her expected behavior as a royal works, and then they give the financial crisis to affect the King and distract him from his bride to be and also provide an always timely look at the struggles of the people in the labor force.

The entire cast comes back except for Amber's dad (Guerrasio) who was recast and has a much larger role this time around. Even the treacherous Simon (Devaney) returns, but is it to be redeemed or to scheme while Aldovia is in turmoil?

All these questions and more will be answered, and now I sit back and wonder if A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby will be next year's sequel?


Final Grade: B-

Someday "A Christmas Prince" Will Come

A Christmas Prince (2017)

TV-PG

Starring Rose McIver, Ben Lamb, Alice Krige, Honor Kneafsey, Sarah Douglas, Theo Devaney, Daniel Fathers

Directed by Alex Zamm

The Story:

Amber (McIver) is a reporter that is stuck basically reworking every other reporter's stories so they work better. She lands the assignment to go to Aldovia to cover Crown Prince Richard's (Lamb) coronation or abdication of the throne. Using a case of mistaken identity, Amber infiltrates the castle staff to try and uncover the real story and get to the truth. However, her work may just undo everything in the process!

I'm not sure if this was Netflix's first original Christmas movie or not, but it was probably their most buzz-worthy title of last year.

I partially watched it last year, but was tapping around on my computer and not paying attention.

So this year, I did my due diligence and watched it from start to finish, no electronic devices anywhere around to distract me.

The results?

As I've said on other reviews this year and in reviews of Christmas Past, there is a very specific formula for these Hallmark/Lifetime/FreeForm Christmas movies. You get the right cast, a decent script and you'll nail it and create an instantly rewatchable comfort film that earns a replay every December going forward.

Netflix pretty much nailed it.

I didn't find it the "so bad it's good" category that earned a lot of the buzz last year. I enjoyed it for not taking itself too seriously and giving us the obvious checklist of what to expect.

A good cast, carried mostly by McIver (I almost didn't recognize her at first due to actually having color on her skin instead of her usual iZombie pale look!) that connects and shares a nice chemistry throughout.

All of the characters have a personality instead of just a cookie cutter background extra, and that is always appreciated.

You'll know how the movie ends long before it ever gets there, but again, that's comforting and enjoyable, especially this time of year.

I'm happy, and I'll be back to visit Aldovia again next holiday season.


Final Grade: B

IHeart "IZombie"

IZombie (2015)

TV-14

Starring Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kholi, Robert Buckley, David Anders

Created by Diane Ruggiero and Rob Thomas

The Story:

Dr. Olivia Moore (McIver) goes to a party at the insistence of her boyfriend, Major (Buckley) who wants her to have a good time. Bad idea, Major. The boat party turns into a massacre, and Liv is scratched by some crazy dude (Anders) and when she wakes up, she's craving brains!  That's right, Liv is now a zombie. She leaves her chosen profession behind and goes to work at the morgue working for Ravi (Kholi) and where she has ample supplies of fresh brains to work with. One apparent zombie side effect is that the brains give Liv bits and pieces of memories from the consumed. She uses this nifty trick to help Detective Babineaux (Goodwin) solve their murders.

The heir apparent to Psych, we have a "psychic" helping the police force solve murders with the help of a funny guy in the morgue. Sure, that's stretching both premises slightly to make my point, but I saw it, and therefore on some subliminal level, it must surely exist. :)

This entry on the CW is, surprise surprise, based on a comic book. Again, that's news to me since I've long ago left reading them on a regular basis.

That it's a good show that I really enjoyed, these thoughts come as no surprise to me as most comics have great stories, ideas and a solid premise behind them.

IZombie is no different, and I'll have to give a shout out to my oldest daughter who discovered this show and converted the whole family into fans.

A tremendously talented cast who can run the gamut of hilarious, terrified, forlorn and just about everything in between, with ease and grace.

Kudos to everyone involved, especially the creators for coming up with another creative take on the zombie mythos and giving us a new (and frankly, terrifying) way that zombies behave.

Frankly, I really enjoyed almost the entire first season.

However...

The Final Episode threw one too many "hey, wouldn't this be a great way to end the season and keep them looking forward to next year?" coincidences and cliffhangers at the audience.

After a season of slow building, the kitchen sink approach fell a little flat for me at the end.

But the 12 episodes in front of that were pretty tremendous.

 Final Grade: B+