The King's Daughter
King Louis XIV's quest for immortality leads him to capture and steal a mermaid's life force, a move that is further complicated by his illegitimate daughter's discovery of the creature.
- Released: 2022-01-21
- Runtime: 94 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Benjamin Walker, Rachel Griffiths, Julie Andrews, Fan Bingbing, William Hurt, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Paul Ireland, Pablo Schreiber, Crystal Clarke, Kaya Blocksage, Kasia Kaczmarek, Tom Morton, Tiffany Hofstetter, Jessica Clarke, Virginia Bowers, Marc de Panda, Jorja Lindsay, Diane Duquesne, Jean-Baptiste Sagory
- Director: Sean McNamara
Comments
- SnoopyStyle - 7 October 2022
lifeless writing
It's 1684 Versailles. King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan) is the longest reigning monarch in history. He has absolute power over all he surveys except for time. He wants immortality. He sends Captain Yves (Benjamin Walker) on a dangerous mission to retrieve an Atlantean mermaid. Dr. Labarthe (Pablo Schreiber) plans to sacrifice the mermaid for his King. Pere La Chaise (William Hurt) sees it as an afront to God. Meanwhile, the King brings composer Marie-Josephe (Kaya Scodelario) to court. She was raised in a convent, and no one knows that she is actually the King's secret daughter.
Pierce Brosnan is close to 70 but he looks closer to 50. That works against him in this role. In order to heighten the intensity, the stakes have to be greater. He should be a decrepit old man on his last leg. He should be desperate to hold off death. The point should be this is his last chance for life. There is simply a blandness to the writing despite the use of the Versailles location. Even with the attempted grandness, this feels lackluster. More could be done with the mermaids, but they are nothing more than CGI creatures. It's all very lifeless.
