Well, I gave the first movie a shot since they went and made three of them (and passably liked it)… and then I did my due diligence to watch the sequel. And I guess I have my limits to dopy romantic comedy Christmas princess switch movies.

The second flick does have a cute angle… now there are three Vanessa Hudgens. The original two and now an evil, vapid cousin who wants to steal the throne by pulling her own switch. It’s a little clever that, when she finally pulls off her scam, the original two have already switched. It’s not much, but it’s the best compliment I have.

I guess the problem with this movie is that it’s not only dumb as a box of rocks, but that the wavy hazy dopy romance of the first flick can’t really sustain real relationship drama. Or a corny crime story that is so toothless that it makes the faux drama of the baking competition from the first movie look like The Godfather. I just didn’t have the patience for the story they went with using the same basic tone and brain-dead script.

It’s hardly the worst rom-com or Christmas movie I’ve ever seen, but that’s being hand-wavingly kind. The movie just can’t survive how dumb and tedious it is. And lovely poor Vanessa Hudgens isn’t strong or even charming enough to pull out of this nose dive.

Score: 68