Genre: romance, comedy, family

The Princess Diaries 2:

Royal Engagement

Directed by Garry Marshall

Written by Shonda Rhimes

Starring Anne Hathaway,

JulieAndrews, Hector Elizondo,

John Rhys-Davies and Chris Pine

Classification: G

Rating: **

In The Princess Diaries, Mia (Anne Hathaway), a somewhat accident-prone San Francisco teen, discovers she is next in line for the throne of Genovia, a tiny kingdom in Europe, and undergoes a swift Pygmalion-like transformation under the guidance of her grandmother, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews). The thrill of seeing Mary Poppins, er, Andrews on the silver screen again and the goofy comic gifts of Hathaway (who played another princess-to-be earlier this year in Ella Enchanted) delighted audiences and the family comedy was a 2001 box-office hit. Five years later (that's movie years, in case you were wondering), Mia has completed college and is on her way to Genovia to move in with her grandmother, ready for retirement, and prepare for assuming the throne, which brings us to The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the title of which rightly suggests a little romantic intrigue is in store for the monarch-in-training.

Director Garry Marshall knows a thing or two about mainstream romantic comedies, not to mention how to spot sequel potential. The creator of Happy Days and its sitcom spinoffs Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, Marshall managed to reunite Pretty Woman co-stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Runaway Bride in 1999. Like the first movie, Princess Diaries 2 relies primarily on the chemistry and screen appeal of Andrews and Hathaway to elevate the storytelling above the level of mush.

Mia has barely settled in at the palace -- roughly the same dimensions as the mansion in the new reality-TV series Growing Up Gotti -- when she learns that in order to assume the throne she must marry within 30 days or else forfeit the crown.

The fictional Genovia, which Marshall describes as existing in the kneecap of Europe, may have a multiracial, multilingual population, but its wig-wearing parliamentarians uphold the ancient, outdated law.

Mia has no choice but to go with the flow and, in a humorous scene, sits with the Queen and a makeshift group of ladies-in-waiting (her best girlfriend has dropped by to lend support) and peruses a slide show of eligible bachelors, a kind of royal dating-service video. When they flip to the real Prince William, Mia perks up with enthusiasm until the Queen admits he's not a contender (he's in line for his own throne), but she put him in the mix because she just likes looking at him. (Andrews, ever the dame.) A suitable cheery young Brit, Lord Andrew (Callum Blue), is chosen and their courtship begins under the watchful eye of Genovian head of security Joseph (Hector Elizondo) and an ever-present group of paparazzi. But there is treachery afoot in the palace.

John Rhys-Davies, who has regained his stature after playing the dwarf in The Lord of the Rings films, plays a cunning viscount whose handsome nephew Nicholas (Chris Pine) also has a viable claim to the throne. The viscount instructs Nicholas to become a romantic distraction in order to prevent the princess from walking down the aisle and thus becoming queen.

This is easily done since Nicholas is a guest at the palace (always hanging out on the edge of the action with a leather-bound book for company), the idea being that Joseph and Queen Clarisse can keep an eye on him.

Yeah, right.

On the eve of her marriage, Mia throws a slumber party for visiting princesses of the world, complete with mattress-surfing down the royal steps. Later that night she sneaks off with Nicholas and the two wake up the next morning in each other's arms, fully clothed of course, by a riverbank. The Genovian newspapers have a field day, and her succession to the throne is now in jeopardy. Naturally, all's well that ends well in the kingdom of Genovia, although the movie would have been much more fun had the writers drawn from the legacy of another European movie kingdom, Freedonia, from the classic 1933 Marx brothers comedy Duck Soup. If Marshall wants to liven up the franchise for Princess Diaries 3, perhaps he should consider a storyline similar to the 1959 comedy The Mouse that Roared, starring Peter Sellers in three roles, in which the tiny European Duchy of Grand Fenwick invades America.

Then again, Marshall prefers his co-stars to make puppy love, not war.