Besides, like I mentioned in my other blogs, I have a lot of unfinished posts stored on the drafts pages of my numerous blogs (particularly Tumblr and Google Blogger). I'm now trying to finish all these articles, so I can publish them already and decrease the number of my drafts.
Anyway, this review is for the German version of The Frog Prince (#ad) movie. The title is Der Froschkönig / Žabí král (1991). My thoughts, notes, opinions, and commentary will be listed below in no particular order.
Prophecy
This movie talked about a prophecy, which I found pretty interesting. This was mostly because there was no prophecy plot point in the original fairytale. I'm always interested in seeing new things being done with fairy tales whether they're retellings or not.This is because I know the basic story already, so I'd like to see what the creators of the film could come up with. It's always a plus to be able to inject some originality and creativity into a story.
Say No to the Love at First Sight Trope
I was pleased to see that the prince and princess actually got to meet before the prince was turned into a frog. I thought this could give them the chance to get to know each other before they ended up together.I thought this could be a way to avoid the love at first sight trope, which I'm not overly fond of. So I was really disappointed when this movie still ended up going the love at first sight route. Sigh.
In the beginning, I thought it was going pretty well. The prince was getting attracted to the princess' beauty. The princess was spurning him and she even slapped him. But then the prince was suddenly like "kiss me", and then it all went downhill from there.
Why Did the Prince and Princess Fall in Love?
The prince and princess danced, and, suddenly, it was like Cinderella with the Prince Charming - they fell in love. But all I could think of was why?Then the prince got turned into a frog, and, again, seemingly all of a sudden, the princess was like "I'm in love with the prince." So she refused to get married unless it was to the prince. I keep having to ask why?
When did she fall for him? How did she fall for him? She was deeply hurt, even crying, when she caught the prince kissing some other girl. The prince betrayed her by doing that, and yet she still loves him anyway.
Sure, this is sweet and all, but, unfortunately, it's just not believable because the two hardly know each other.
Then there's how the princess was like "he gave me his word, he will be back", and I'm just like "the prince is a liar". The audience saw how he kissed that girl, and he even bet that the princess would dance with him.
The prince is a charmer for sure, but, seriously, I still don't know what the princess saw in him. So he's complimenting her beauty. So what? Is that the only reason she likes him? Just for that? I mean, they hardly talked.
They didn't even get to meet up at the forest because the princess ran off when she saw the prince kissing this other girl. In short, their love was unbelievable.
Unlikable Main Characters
Also, I didn't think the main characters were all that likable, especially not the prince. He was arrogant, and he liked messing with people. He even kissed that other girl. The princess saw, so she cried and was all jealous.The Problem With Royalty Refusing to Get Married
The princess refused to get married for the sake of the kingdom because she's in love with the prince. I guess the audience is supposed to see this as romantic. But, for me, all I could think of was that she was being incredibly selfish by doing this.I mean, she's not just some girl. She's the princess. She has responsibilities. So the people being mad- I thought they had the right to be angry. Because the princess was only thinking about herself and her personal needs.
As the future ruler of the kingdom, she should be thinking about the people too. She should be doing what's best for them.
But, no. She even had the gall to look all scared. I wish she would look at this from the point of view of all those people. Their lives were at stake. And it seemed like their rulers didn't care or couldn't care less about them.
The King and Queen
Surprisingly, the king and queen in this movie actually love and each other and were pretty decent rulers. This was quite refreshing since the usual trope or plot point had one of them either:- hating the princess
- wanting to force the princess to marry
- was a bad ruler
- etc
Apart from the queen and king being decent rulers and actually loving each other, it was also refreshing and interesting to see that they care about their daughter.
It was sweet how they didn't force her to get married even though the people were pressuring them to do so. They do seem to care for the people, but they obviously love their daughter too. They don't want to force her.
This is nice and all, but, as mentioned above, they're the rulers, so they also have to think about the safety of their people. They have a responsibility to take care of their people.
What's up With the Fairy?
I didn't really get that fairy thing- that woman who cursed the prince to be a frog. It was like she showed up out of nowhere.Of course, I'm all for her turning the prince into a frog. He totally deserved that for being so arrogant. He was such a bully. He was just plain bad.
The Golden Ball
I thought it was nice how the king was the one who gave the golden ball to the princess. But what came across as contrived was how the princess was suddenly in the habit of going to the forest with the ball.Actually, that can be forgivable. It can be explained that she decided to go to that particular spot because that was where the prince was last seen. The reason she's clinging to the ball could be because it reminded her of the prince. After all, the king was saying something about that before.
But what needs to be explained was why she only threw the ball near the last part. There were several scenes wherein we see her in the pond. She's just sitting there with the ball. But she never threw it until that last scene.
Why did she suddenly decide to throw it and play with it? How come that only happened in that last scene? That bit seemed to come from out of nowhere. It didn't make sense at all. Seriously, what was up with that?
Other Plotholes in the German Frog Prince Movie
Another thing that didn't make sense was the frog. When the prince realized that he'd been turned into a frog, why did he stay in the pond? Why didn't he leave?It couldn't be because he couldn't leave because we saw him leave later, so we know it was possible for him to leave.
So why did he stay there for so long without doing anything? He could have tried to find a way to change back instead of just lying there and doing nothing.
Then when the princess showed up in the pond, how come the frog prince didn't talk to her? He could still talk, so how come he only talked to her when she lost the golden ball? Why didn't he talk to her the first time she showed up? Why did he wait? Does that make sense or what?
Your Thoughts and Opinions
So, what about you? What did you think about this movie? How would you rate this film? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.*Notes:
- Image is from Amazon.com; link shown above