It can be said that Disney Channel’s made-for-TV movies are predictably cheesy, totally unrealistic, thoroughly sappy, and have enough plot holes to rupture the tires on an 18-wheeler.
At the risk of losing my “mancard” I will also say that they tend to be excellent movies, enjoyable for children and adults alike. The winner of the 2009 Teen Choice Awards for best summer flick, “Princess Protection Program,” is all of the above and then some. The movie stars Disney Channel alums, former “Barney and Friends” cast members, and real life best friends Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez.
The outlandish premise of the film begins as we meet high school tomboy Carter Mason (Gomez) as she is working in her father’s bait shop in the Louisiana Bayou. Carter is a social misfit, and has a crush on (shockingly) the most popular and handsome boy in the school. Donny (equally shockingly) doesn’t even know she is alive – literally – not knowing her name though they have been classmates since Kindergarten. Of course, Carter has a best friend named Edwin (Nicholas Braun) a lanky and awkward boy who (of course) is madly in love with her though somehow she doesn’t know it. Predictably, Donny (Robert Adamson) is dating a stuck up snob named Chelsea (Jamie Chung), who has but one goal outside of being popular – what else – to be Homecoming Queen.
In altruistic Disney fashion, it is then revealed that Carter’s father (Tom Verica) uses the bait shop as a front; he is actually (you
guessed it) a secret agent working for an ambiguous government entity that’s sole purpose is protecting various princesses from all around the world (duh!). He is dispatched to the small island nation of Costa Luna. At the inauguration ceremony of Costa Luna’s young princess, Rosalinda Maria Montoya Fiore (Lovato) the dictator of a (for some unknown reason) rival nation called Costa Estella, General Magnus Kane (Johnny Ray Rodriguez) has inexplicably managed to invade an island and take control. In order to protect the princess, Major Mason forces her to go into hiding. She unwillingly follows him back to the swamps of Louisiana where she must assume the role of Rosie Gonzalez, high school student and cousin of Carter.
Tension quickly mounts between the girls as Carter has obvious disdain for the princess, herself having grown up in a middle class and typically uneventful home. Carter teaches Rosie how to be a normal teenager and Rosie returns the favor by explaining to Carter that there is more to being a princess then just being pretty – you must have what it takes on the inside as well. As time goes on they (hold your breath) become best friends (in literally 20 minutes of screen time) and set out together to conquer two simultaneous fronts; getting the boyish Carter elected Homecoming Queen over the snotty Chelsea while of course overthrowing the military dictator who has gained control of Costa Luna (a typical day for a pair of sixteen-year-old girls).
You’ll roll your eyes at the predictability and corniness of “Princess Protection Program.” You know what’s going to happen before it happens. You’ll utter lines before the characters say them. You’ll know how it’s going to end one-third of the way through and yet…you’ll find yourself loving every minute of it.
Princess Protection Program offers one incredible strong point – the genuine and strong bond between the cast which is evident on screen and off (if you watch some of the special features). Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez are both beautiful and talented rising young stars and you’ll be waiting for the inevitable sequel – or at least the next time they share a stage.
– Matt Christopher
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