So how does a medieval damsel-in-distress story come to look less like “Rapunzel” than “The Raid” or “ John Wick”? It’s directed by Le-Van Kiet, a Vietnamese filmmaker trained at UCLA, whose martial arts actioner “Furie” (2019) became his country’s highest-ever grosser. She gains considerable help from friend and combat trainer Linh ( Veronica Ngo), leading to the ultimate confrontation with wedding-bent Julius and his most murderous minion, Moira ( Olga Kurylenko).

Once she escapes her cell, the film takes on the shape of the martial arts classic “ The Raid,” with the protagonist having to fight all the way down the tower, through level after level of varied opponents. When the Princess rejects her ill-fitting suitor, Julius seizes her (hence the two brutes) and takes her family’s castle. It couldn’t be more timely, and it’s a good time too. “The Princess” is an unabashedly feminist action-adventure in which the central character rises from her dormancy to slash the patriarchy. When the Princess says a planned life of submission to a cruel, unworthy husband is “like something out of a fairy tale,” it’s clear she’s not talking about a happy ending. Dad loves her but needs to marry her off to secure the future of the kingdom. The Princess has been promised in marriage to odious Lord Julius ( Dominic Cooper) by her very traditional king dad (Ed Stoppard). And by the way, King acts her way through the combat: The Princess can wield a sword and spin and kick like a martial artist, but she’s slight and smaller than her enemies, and King roots the moments in a consistent reality. A game King springs into action and shows off entertaining fighting skills that are anything but period, but who cares? The film has fun earning its R rating.

Two brutish guards learn the hard way this princess isn’t waiting for a Prince Charming. But the ruse is quickly over, and the film shows its true colors with violent and exciting badassery. It gets cringier as we fly through a tower window to find the titular Princess ( Joey King) prone in bed, Sleeping Beauty-style. “ The Princess” starts bumpily, hitting branches on the cliché tree with medieval-y flutes and mediocre CG castle environs.

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