Princess Ka’iulani (Q’orianka Kilcher) a child educated in England and heir to the throne of Hawaii, is thrust into the middle of the skirmish as her mother is imprisoned when the American business men come to the Island to colonize and bring Democracy. The American forces lead by Sanford Dole (Will Patton) and his partner Thurston (Barry Pepper) and have support of the United States government, what is a Samoan girl to do?
Princess Ka’iulani returns to her island to defend its people and culture and even persuades an outgoing president Grover Cleveland to help her. Unfortunately her timing is poor as incoming president McKinley supports Thurston’s group.
Director Marc Forby (Prom Night) shows us in “Princess Ka’iulani” that Hawaii wasn’t always the tourist destination we know, that one time it was a pristine paradise untouched by the modern world. Unfortunately the movie feels like a flight to Hawaii, long and boring….and there is no lei at the payoff!
The story drags on and on to a climactic dinner party, ye s dinner party. The second biggest crime next to the poor script/dialogue is that you don’t see enough of Hawaii! You get a better glance at the island in an episode of “Lost”! If you are a history buff I would recommend you wait for this one to hit the DVD shelves, otherwise avoid this snoozer version of the history of Hawaii’s princess of Honolulu.
I am Karl the Flick Fanatic, craving pineapple for some reason now that Princess Ka’iulani is a wrap!
Rated PG (violence, language)
Running time: 130 min.
Love is in the air in Florence, but not everyone is happy about it. This…
Pressure is the kind of war film that succeeds not through explosions or battlefield spectacle,…
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is sailing the high seas with The Pirates of Penzance.…
Modern horror has become crowded with sequels, recycled concepts, and films that mistake loud jump…
Famous for their UK sketch comedy show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the British comedy troupe…
The recent visit from Stars On Ice made its way through St Louis at the…
View Comments
"Samoan Paradise of Hawaii"?????
That's like saying, the "Alaskan paradise of New Zealand". May share the same ocean, but it's a different country and wrong hemisphere.
OK Waldo, its not all about geography. Maybe i should have written Polynesian Paradise instead of Somoan. But the Somoans make up one of the largest groups that migrated to the islands to live and not brought there to work the plantations.
Karl...your ignorance is showing. Please don't post what you know nothing of. Samoans started arriving in numbers during the 1950s and not the era the movie portrays.
I do agree with what you wrote about the movie.
The character is true but everything that surrounds her - people and events are either fabricated or lies.
The entire movie is a facade - it is only a movie it is not the truth.
Karl....stop digging! :)