A fairytale is generally incomplete until a knight comes on a horse and sweeps a damsel off her feet. And that’s what The Stolen Princess is all about.
Based on the fairy tale ‘Ruslan and Lyudmila’ (1820) by Russian poet Aleksander Pushkin, The Stolen Princess is a Ukrainian fantasy film that tells a simple story in a delightful manner that has done quite well in 3D. In fact, it is the first Ukrainian film to be distributed in India dubbed in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Presented by Ultra Media, the film is a proper mix of fantasy, romance, humour and action. For the generation to which it is targeted, it serves the purpose pretty well. In the initial part, Mila, a princess and a rebel escapes from the castle when her father tries to marry her off forcibly. She then bumps into a wandering troubadour, Ruslan who dreams of becoming a knight some day. Together, they try living an adventurous life and love starts to bloom between the two.
It’s all rosy until Chornomor, the wicked, evil sorcerer from the fairy tale Ruslan thinks doesn’t exist, kidnaps Mila. Chornomor has a weakness wherein he needs to replenish his magical power in ways that aren’t easy to obtain. He kidnaps maidens to take their power of true love and vital energies by turning them into stones. After Mila is taken by him to his enchanted land, Ruslan embarks on the quest to rescue her, accompanied by his comrades.
Though predictable, the characters are chalked out brilliantly bringing out the necessary humour throughout the film. The animation is stunningly refreshing and the characters look lively. There are no complex graphics used, but each frame is crafted to perfection.
Post interval, we witness some funny yet valorous acts from our protagonists as they face challenges and struggles to distinguish between appearance and reality. The main theme remains the same – Good triumphs over evil, always.
What caught our fancy, was the fight sequence with desserts. The apt use of each dessert item added with the smart use of witty dialogues, turned out to be an absolute win. The bird, the hamster, the cat that turns into a monster and the helpful wizard Fin, all of them made the film even more interesting with their presence, puns and actions at regular intervals.
The film looks nothing less than a Disney movie in its exuberance, grandeur, content-animation treatment and execution. Though, unlike recent Disney movies, the princess gets finally rescued by a man despite her being, strong-willed, feisty and intellectual who makes her kidnapper’s life hell by stealing his magic cap and being invisible; just as the fairy tale might have suggested.
The Stolen Princess has an amazing voice cast that includes Dan Edwards, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, Marc Thompson, Dave Wills, Billy Bob Thompson, Tom Wayland, Jason Griffith, Jake Paque, Abe Goldfarb, Kate Bristol and Andrew Watts, who adds more essence and dimension to the film.
Helmed by Oleg Malamuzh, the film spreads across a bright canvas with a vivid palette of colours. The elusive flora and fauna, the magical wonderland, the stone gem, the frog princess as well as the giant warrior, adds versatility and vibrance to the feature.
The Stolen Princess that hit the big screens on 24 August 2018, is a complete feast to kids and animation lovers alike at the end. Though dull at few moments, the film manages to hit the right chords and have done a good job in making us believe that love is stronger than all the strongest forces on earth, even magic!
