Review of Princess Kaiulani (2010) by Michael B — 16 May 2010

The movie director/writer Marc Forby failed in this portrayal of our beloved Hawaiian Princess. The actors and actresses were astounding, and probably saved this movie from sinking deep into the Pacific Ocean.

I gave this movie a 20% because the acting was great. The rating would be much lower had the acting made me yawn. If the reviews were based completely on acting, I would've given it an 85% or higher, but alas, critics are not so privileged. Q'Orianka Kilcher did a magnificent job as an actress in this movie. Will Patton and Barry Pepper also deserve standing ovations for their portrayals of Lorrin Thurston and Sanford Dole. With this amazing cast, Marc Forby still managed to completely fail on delivery.

The very rushed and sappy love story had almost been believable if the Princess and her Boyfriend at the time were not making out every chance they got. I often wondered if I was watching a movie inspired by Hawaiian Royalty, or an introduction to a porno movie with an 1890 setting.

The Overthrow - As a Kanaka Maoli, I went into the movie wondering if I would need a kleenex for the scene in which the Overthrow took place. As a Kanaka, the loss of our land and Kingdom is a very deep wound that after 100 years, still has not been fully healed. However, I found I would not need a kleenex because it was over so fast. I think I blinked twice, and the scene in which SHOULD have left the deepest memory, deepest pain, and deepest cut in my theatre experience, was over. That's right, 2 blinks, and it was over. That's faster then my first time.. well nevermind.

The music in this movie was completely horrid as well. I mean, I know that movies are made on a budget, but come on... A solo piano score to depict the falling in love of Princess Kaiulani and Clive? The piano part could've worked had it not been based off of a minor scale which made it hard to believe it was a love scene. How far back on budget did you need to go to save money? Did you pay money for that piano score? Can you get your money back? /sigh /rant off.

In conclusion, if you are from Hawaii, go see this movie. I dearly hope this is only a stepping stone for more movies to come from Hawaii. Hopefully movie directors will learn from this movie.

If you are NOT from Hawaii, then I would recommend going to this movie to get a vague and semi-accurate history lesson of Hawaii, OR, a full lesson in how not to Write, or Direct a movie.