Disney is responsible for creating some of the most popular princess characters in modern popular culture, and this isn't limited to animated icons like Cinderella but includes live-action characters as well. In particular, the character of Mia Thermopolis from The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement not only helped launch star Anne Hathaway into superstardom, but the films themselves remain fan favorites to this day. Both movies are charming and still entertaining, but which one reigns supreme?
Critics Prefer The Princess Diaries Over the Sequel
While neither The Princess Diaries nor The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement have particularly strong critic scores, the first one is generally better reviewed than the sequel. According to Metacritic, the original has a score of 52, while the sequel sports a 43. Basically, both films have a charm, but the first is better balanced, and critics appear to be more impressed with the coming-of-age story of the original than the marriage plot of the sequel. Critics aren't the only way to determine which film is better, however, and the ranking and enjoyment of films are more subjective than mathematical.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Is a Better Love Story
There is a love story between Mia and Michael in The Princess Diaries, but it's just not as satisfying compared to the enemies-to-lovers romance between Mia and Nicholas. Michael is soft-spoken and kind, but he and Mia don't really spend much time together, nor do they really have a romance arc the audience gets to follow. Nicholas and Mia, on the other hand, go through a whole enemies-to-lovers arc that is both entertaining and satisfying for an audience. The sequel is about a wedding and follows the tradition of the romantic comedy genre. The romance plot still holds up, and the chemistry between Hathaway and Chris Pine -- who plays Nicholas -- is electric and helps carry the film through even the sections that maybe aren't that effective as a movie.
The Princess Diaries Is a Unique Spin on the Princess Tale
Yes, the love story of the original isn't as good as the love story in the sequel, but that could actually work in favor of The Princess Diaries being the superior film. Often, stories about princesses are criticized because they focus on love stories that end up centering more on the male love interests than on the female characters themselves. The Princess Diaries does have a love story, but it is secondary to the coming of age story that centers the film. The story is about Mia's journey to self-acceptance, and along the way, she finds confidence as she heals her relationship with herself and her identity. Her fling with Michael is just one of the many effects of her character arc and is not the center of her arc, whereas Mia's relationship with Nicholas is one of the primary arcs of the sequel, as is expected from a romantic comedy.
Mia Has More Interesting Relationships in The Princess Diaries
In the original film, Mia starts off as just a regular high school girl. During that time, she struggles with bullies, feels invisible at school, and gets a bit steamrolled by her opinionated best friend, Lily. When she learns she is actually a princess, she then adds relationships with her grandmother, the queen, and how that complicates her relationship with her mother and recently deceased absentee father. Then, once her secret identity is revealed, she has a changing relationship with the people who previously bullied or ignored her, strangers feel that they have permission to invade her life, and her relationships with Lily and Michael are impacted as well. These interpersonal relationships feel much richer and more fleshed out than her relationships in the sequel. Lily and her mother are regulated to bit players in smaller roles, and her primary interpersonal relationships are romantic in nature, which is entertaining, but lacking in substance compared to the original film.
Which Princess Diaries Film Is Better?
Ranking these two films does come down to a subjective choice despite what the critics say. The fact that the two films are structured as slightly different genres, with the first being a coming-of-age story and the sequel being a romantic comedy, makes it that much harder to determine a definitive winner between the pair. Arguments can be made in favor of both films being ranked number one, but the reasons outlined above point out that The Princess Diaries is a superior film to the sequel.