Review of Princess Kaiulani (2010) by Shay B — 24 Sep 2010

I honestly wanted to view this film for quite some time since I saw the trailer for it online. I'm a huge fan of biopics and famous historical figures. Well, I recently had the chance to view this film last week, and though there were some interesting and informative moments, the film was a little dull and did not elaborate on some of the powerful and important moments of Hawaii and the princess herself.

The film started out a little slow, and I was hoping the film was going to pick up, and it barely did. I don't know much behind the production of the film, but just by watching it, I am assuming it was low-budget.

The film could have been better if it was produced by a major studio. Q'Orianka Kilcher is a talented actress, and was hoping her role would be poetic and powerful as her last performance in the "The New World" several years back.

The film's editing was a little odd, too. There were so much fade outs. I wonder why? What's the point in the all of the fade into black? The film's musical score could have been better. Most were, I think, acoustic piano solos, but was hoping for some traditional Hawaiian music and full-orchestral performances, as well.

The film's love story was a little cheap at times. I think the reason why was because the film was too short, and it did not fully develop the characters. I wanted to learn and know more about each of the important players.

Instead, I could a synopsis on each of them (including the minor cast). Overall, the film interesting, but it did not wow me. I would love to see a real, and hopefully higher budget, interpretation of Princess Ka'iulani one of these days.

Her story is awe-inspiring.