Damsel – A Strong But Lacking Fantasy Action Tale (Early Review)

Damsel is Netflix’s latest fantasy adventure starring Mille Bobby Brown as Elodie, a dutiful damsel who agrees to marry the handsome prince Henry (Nick Robinson) but little did she know, the royal family she’s marrying into, led by the ruthless Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright), were merely recruiting her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. Thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon, Elodie must rely on only her wits and will to survive against the dragon and escape the cave. While not overly original or a new fantasy classic by any stretch of the imagination, it is nonetheless a solid watch that will more than likely keep audiences entertained.

As far as Netflix blockbusters go, it is honestly one of their best in recent memory (which may not be saying much) and it’s clear everyone involved in this project put a lot more time, care, energy, and passion into it compared to most of their originals. Sure, not every single effect or green screen shot looks completely perfect, but the film has a great visual style and most of the VFX look good. Speaking of the dragon, it has a cool & unique look while director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s made the smart choice to only show it sparingly throughout, building a level of immersion and intensity until truly unleashing it in a final act that will give audiences all the dragon action they’d hope to see.

Meanwhile, the action in general is better than it should be, and every single set piece is massively entertaining with each one better than the last. It’s honestly a bit surprising that the film could maintain a PG-13 considering what it got away with in what was a true testament to the filmmakers for pushing that rating as far as they possible could. One of the biggest reasons the film works as well as it did, is Brown’s strong performance as Elodie. Brown has proven herself when it comes to action, however, her performance here might be her most badass in also her most demanding role to date, crushing everything in her path. Instantly charismatic from the first frame, it becomes easy to go on her journey with her. Elodie was a role that showed up at the right time at this point in her career, and it wouldn’t be a complete shock if she would end up reprising her role in a sequel if this film were to perform well.

For the most part, the film provides just enough entertainment in the moment but is also one that is far from anything special or memorable. As far as its story and characters go, it doesn’t have much to offer at all which will leave many to feel somewhat disappointed on that front. Damsel essentially delivers the simplest and most straightforward possible version of this type of story, and audiences aren’t given much in the way of character development or world building beyond its first act. Speaking of that opening act, is comes off a bit slow, taking longer than it should for the central conflict to begin while the ending wraps up a bit too quickly and could’ve been a tad more satisfying. Featuring a impressive supporting cast consisting of Winstone, Wright, Robinson, and Angela Bassett, most of them are completely wasted and given hardly anything to do after the first act which only made their further appearances more distracting than anything.

At the end of the day, Damsel is a solid watch that will more than keep audiences entertained in the moment, however, it doesn’t have the lasting effect, rewatchability or staying power that the best of this genre offers. If anything, the film is worth checking out for Millie Bobby Brown’s strong lead performance alone or for those who are fans of dragons or anything else fantasy related.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/