Long-time readers of this site would probably guess that romantic movies aren't exactly my cup of tea, and they'd be right. Most of the pablum that passes for "good" romantic films are like torture to the soul for your friendly neighborhood semi-drunken reviewer. You couldn't pay me or offer sexual favors exceedingly large enough to actually sit down and watch twaddle like He's Not That Into You. Well, maybe you could, but I think you get my point, dear reader.

 So, keeping that in mind, contain your shock while I tell you that I actually enjoyed Princess D. Oh, did I mention that one of the stars is none other than Hong Kong Film Net's favorite whipping boy, Edison Chen, and I still enjoyed it? Yeah, I know, your mind just got like totally blown, man.

Anyway, getting on to the actual review, in Princess D, Daniel Wu plays Joker, a computer geek who works for an internet games company. His current project is to come up with a female model for their new game, which he finds in Ling (Angelica Lee), a bartender from the wrong side of the tracks. But Joker's company wants to go with more of a Lara Croft-type, and so he quits, moving his offices into his dad's (Anthony Wong) dance studio.

Ling doesn't want to work for Joker at first, because she needs to keep bartending and selling drugs so she can support her family. But Joker's brother, Kid (Edison Chen), convinces her otherwise. As you might guess, Joker and Ling eventually fall for each other. However, as this is a Hong Kong production where things are often turned topsy-turvy, the question if they will live happily ever after is left up in the air until the final reel. Let's just say the final results might just have you reaching for a hanky.

Art-house favorite writer and director Sylvia Chang (along with her partner Alan Yuen) have, with Princess D, taken what should, for all intents and purposes, be your standard cutie teeny-bopper date movie material and made it into something compelling. Much attention was paid upon this film's release on its' use of CGI, which was state-of-the art for Hong Kong at the time.

The computer tweaking hasn't aged all that well, though, particularly when it comes to the end scenes which use a fully digitized version of Angelica Lee. It might have wowed people at the time, but, honestly, even the cheap games you can download on a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 are capable of much better-looking and more convincing stuff nowadays.

Thankfully, Chang and Yuen keep most of the emphasis of Princess D on the characters, not flowery computer graphics. The movie's main strength comes from its' quieter moments, whether it's Ling and Joker's dad bonding over a cup of coffee, Joker attempting to play mahjong with Ling's mentally ill mother (Pat Ha), or Kid awkwardly trying to close the deal with his internet chat "girlfriend" in a seedy pay-by-the-hour motel.

Yes, that's right, Princess D is a movie where you actually don't want to punch Edison Chen. Sylvia Chang must be some kind of miracle worker. At the very least, she has enough smarts to not fall prey to many of the cliches of the genre, like having a slow-motion montage of footage playing while a Cantopop ballad blares in the background. And for that, I thank you, Ms. Chang.

If there is fault to be found with Princess D, it's in the fact that perhaps Chang and Yuen tried a bit too hard, and matters become a bit bloated as a result. While I enjoyed the supporting characters, after the film ends, one gets the feeling that the picture as a whole would have better served by concentrating more on Joker and Ling's relationship. Despite this, Princess D ultimately does succeed in what it sets out to do -- tell a tale of love and romance (and the sometimes resulting loss and despair) in the internet age -- and comes recommended not just for fans of romantic weepies, but for movies as a whole.

RATING: 7

Notes: this review is based on the Mega Star DVD, which contains ten minutes of footage not seen in the theatrical cut. Also, there is a Japanese TV series called Princess Princess D that has no relation to this film.