The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020)

Not a good watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're obsessed Vanessa Hudgens or the first movie / Freaky Friday tropes. Look, Vanessa Hudgens does a good job working 3 times as hard for the same paycheck, but the story is a mess. The characters literally have discussions about how they don't know what's going on anymore. The addition of this cousin undercuts the original movie's concept that it's amazing that someone else could look just like her. It is also barely amusing. Where the first was "Freaky Friday" meets "princess diaries", this folds in "The Hustle" to add a criminal element, but like big crime: kidnapping and international affairs. It is a very specific band of fans that are going to love this. It's not like there isn't anything to love, but the big selling point is the worst thing about the movie: it actually would have been good if they had the confidence to just do a simple switch again.

Rubbish. Vanessa Hudgens remains terrific, but 'The Princess Switch: Switched Again' is disappointing in every other way. I enjoyed the first, but this is a let down. The plot is woeful, with the set-up and execution equally as bad. The new characters are lame, while what they do with the original lot is boring. The new character is just annoying, not helped by how poorly they are written; as are the clichéd goons alongside, though noteworthy (for me) to see Ricky Norwood cast as one of them - Fatboy himself. iykyk. Elsewhere, the main bunch from the first film reprise their roles, with the exception of Alexa Adeosun as Olivia - which is a shame. I admit this isn't anything utterly terrible, I didn't dislike it massively. I wanted a better follow-up though, this is a rather lacklustre attempt. A third film has already begun filming, I'll likely watch it either way but hopefully it's an improvement on this.