La Princesse de Chicago : En quête de l'étoile

Fans of the Princess Switch will no doubt enjoy this third installment of the Netflix movie series. All in all, it is a fun and entertaining movie, with a couple of heartfelt moments, sprinkled here and there. This Christmas, when the Star of Peace (a priceless Christmas relic on loan from the Church) is stolen, Queen Margaret and Princess Stacy enlist the help of Margaret's infamous cousin Fiona (all three played by Vanessa Hudgens) to help steal the Star back. Fiona in turn recruits her former friend Peter (played by Remy Hii), who owns a private security firm, to help the team in their Mission Impossible-like heist. Indeed, this one has a bit of a Mission Impossible and Entrapment (the one with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones) feel to it. The script, I thought, was well written, in line with the other movies in the Princess Switch series. The dialogue was amusing at times, with several funny one-liners by Fiona such as No worries, royal six-pack; How's my fave cuzzie-in-law; Am I late for brekkie; Don't you trust me Royal boo; Pay attention, Betty Crocker. The writers also developed a backstory for Fiona in this one, which comes full circle at the end with a couple of touching scenes between Fiona and her mother, and Fiona and Peter. I might even have shed a tear or two. And, of course, it would not be the Princess Switch without another switch this time around. What makes this all work on screen is the acting. Hudgens's performance, in her multiple roles, again was brilliant. And the performances of the supporting cast, the Princess Switch regulars, were also very good this time around. The film also had a great Christmas vibe to it, with a nice soundtrack to boot. I can't forget Fiona's outrageous getup and flashy style. There was even some sexy tango in this one. May I have a Candy cane Martini, please? They look yummy. Overall, though a bit silly at times, I found myself taken in by the film. This is an entertaining new edition to the Princess Switch series and Netflix's Christmas movie line-up this season. Fans will no doubt enjoy it.

A third Princess Switch movie was unexpected and felt unnecessary. By now, there is an obvious struggle to keep the whole "lookalikes switching places" scenario feeling fresh. This becomes apparent as this story takes too long to get interesting. I even felt the lookalike illusion beginning to break as the three Vanessa Hudgens characters started feeling more like the same person. This third movie focuses very much on the newer lookalike introduced in the previous movie. This character isn't as charming as the first two lookalikes but she gets a sweet little romance story as she learns how to deal with past hurt. It's nice when this story becomes sentimental because the humor was falling flat and the build up to the climax wasn't drawing me in. Perhaps a big problem here is that the main characters that we've enjoyed from the first two movies take a back seat in this one.

Don't expect that you'll get a thoroughly well thought story out of any Christmas movie. So on that note, this is just another lighthearted movie from the Princess switch series. It's fun to watch and gets us right in the Christmas feelings.

Vanessa's acting is top notch. Playing three totally different characters exquisitely speaks volumes on her acting skills.

Another movie to watch with Christmas just around the corner. Corny but lovely. A must watch for all the Christmas lovers!

If you go into it knowing it's just a fun little movie, you'll enjoy it. Perhaps not as good as the 1st but definitely better than the 2nd.

Really nice to see the recurring cast.

I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was funny, intriguing. I honestly though would have wanted to see the mystery had been 'bigger'. And hey - if we get a fourth maybe we can get a murder mystery :D.