Princess Protection Program - TV Movie Review

Bottom line: Princess Protection Program portrays an uplifting story for older kids and tweens that focuses on friendship and staying true to oneself. The movie contains a few scenes of brief mild violence of the highly unrealistic sort, and some kids in the movie have mean, snotty attitudes, but Princess Rosalinda sets a royal example in all situations.

Princess Protection Program - Summary

Teenager Carter Mason and her dad Joe are getting along just fine, living an unassuming life in Lake Monroe, Louisiana -- until the day Joe decides to bring his work home with him. Joe is a covert agent in the international Princess Protection Program, and when he saves one Rosalinda Marie Montoya Fiore, the soon-to-be teenage monarch of the tiny country of Costa Luna, he is charged with watching over her until things in her country are stable again. An evil dictator, General Kane, and his army are trying to take over the tiny country and throw Rosalinda and her mother in a cell.

The last thing that Carter wants to do is share her room, and her life, with a snooty princess who thinks she's better than everyone else. Between the mean girls at school and the guy who doesn't notice her, Carter has enough to deal with already. As she reluctantly "helps" Rosie try to fit in, however, she realizes that although the princess is grossly out of her element, there is more to her than Carter could ever have imagined. The two are able to find some common ground despite the opposite worlds they come from, and Carter begins to understand that this princess might actually be worth protecting.

Princess Protection Program - Guide Review

What I love about Disney Channel Original Movies, is that they often deliver and uplifting message that, though often pretty cheesy, presents a good moral with relatively little of the junk to go along with it. The movie does have the typical "mean girl" characters, and they mock and belittle others mercilessly, but there is a great scene in which Rosie's character turns the other cheek and walks away with her head held high.

The movie's message is about friendship and finding out about a person before making judgments. Particularly poignant regarding the value of friendship is the idea that finding true friends who show integrity and strength of character is what is important. Princess Protection Program is absolute, typical Disney -- the show is cheesy, unrealistic, and sometimes downright silly, but it is great fun for older kids and tweens, and leaves viewers with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Content overview: Princess Protection Program contains some scenes with mild, unrealistic violence. The evil General Kane comes in with armed men to take over Costa Luna and incarcerate the Princess and her mother, some fighting ensues, and Joe Mason has to swoop in and rescue the Princess. Some scenes in the movie also involve mild slapstick violence -- things like kids slipping and falling or smashing food on each other. Mean kids in the movie play pranks and say sarcastic, rude things to others, and some dresses kids wear at a dance show some cleavage and/or are short.

Princess Protection Program - DVD Special Features

• Royal & Loyal BFFs: Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato -- Secrets about their real-life friendship
• A Royal Reality: A real-life princess shares the realities about gowns, castles, and royal responsibilities.
• "One and the Same" Music Video: Starring Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato