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Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Have you ever heard the phrase “Damsel in distress”? The female character gets kidnapped or placed in some type of danger where one or more men rescue her. This damsel is usually straight up FINE or P.H.A.T (Pretty, Hot, and Tempting) while also being popular or royalty. The things that drive the men to do the rescuing are either in love, wanting to marry, becoming a prince, money, or whatever reason.
Now, back in the day, the whole thing would’ve been acceptable as seeing women as either weak or helpless and needing a man to take care of them. Through the years, it has gone from dragons or wizards taking the princess to monsters, aliens, or anything else. I’m here to tell you that even though the damsel in distress is still around, badass women have risen, and they don’t need no man saving them.
Recently, Netflix released a film called Damsel. I was interested in the movie because it was set in the medieval time period, but what interested me the most was the dragon. Always need a good dragon. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Dan Mazeau, Damsel is a decent film but not one that will blow you away. The film begins with a rundown of past events. Centuries before the film’s start, the first king of Aurea decides to lead an attack against a dragon chilling in the land. The dragon wipes out all the king’s men, and the king comes face to face with the dragon. The film picks up centuries later with Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown), the daughter of Lord Bayford (Winstone), and her stepmother Lady Bayford, who is played by Queen Mother, the one and only Angela Bassett. Yes, whenever you hear me talk about Angela Bassett, she will be called Queen Mother. Okay, back to the review. Elodie gets a proposal from Queen Isabelle, played by the great Robin Wright. Elodie’s father urges her to marry to help his poor ass kingdom. Lady Bayford, on the other hand, is suspicious about everything, but being a know-it-all kid, Elodie jumps at the chance of marriage.
The wedding was sweet and cute. After the wedding, Elodie and Henry go to the mountains to perform an ancient ritual. Isabelle explains the ritual and cuts Elodie and Henry’s hands. We good? Henry carries Elodie over a narrow-ass bridge and then boom, marriage is done because he straight up yeet her ass off the bridge where she falls below to the ground. At the bottom, she is soon preyed upon by the dragon, who has some major beef with the kingdom.
The film really picks up after Elodie falls into the dragon’s den. What I mean to say is that shit goes down, and this was the part that was very interesting in the entire movie. Elodie has to hold her own against the dragon who A) talks, B) has some of the most terrifying fire breathing and C) straight-up goads Elodie at every turn. How does Elodie fight back against this mighty beast?? Well, she gets help from the dead. The dead, you might ask. Yup, she is given clues by all the other “princesses” who had come to the kingdom and perished. The clues save Elodie’s ass in more ways than one.
You might wonder where the Damsel part comes into play. Elodie’s dad has second thoughts and leads his men to the Dragon’s lair to find his daughter. This is the one and only time the damsel idea comes up because dude gets wiped out like he was nothing. I feel like this film should’ve been called something else because Elodie was no Damsel; she was a freakin badass warrior.
Eventually, Elodie learns the truth of why the dragon has killed so many girls. Like in most of these films, the enemies become friends, and they exact their own revenge on the kingdom. It was a standard story if you think about it. It wasn’t anything new or special.
What I felt was different was that in this story, Elodie had the dead to help her. It’s like those video games where the last person who tried left you clues. That is what the film was about; each princess that died before her left clues on how to survive. I will say that some of them left major clues before dying a horrible death. All seemed they were caught off guard before being burned to a crisp.
The title of Damsel was weak. Elodie was no damsel as she rose up and went to war. Let me discuss this. Why is the premise of most fantasy films with a dragon, the kingdom before kills the babies and must make a deal? I feel like this is a common premise in films where humans fuck up, and then everyone suffers. The king of old made a deal to somewhat right the ways, but it never worked out. Also, when the princess’s father tries to roll up and save the daughter, he never works out and ends up dying a horrible death. Sorry, I wanted to get that out of the way. Now, the title should be Badass Princess because Elodie went on the offensive when she gained courage. She gained it when her sister was taken. Also, why does a family member always have to be taken? Makes no sense sometimes.
As far as the acting goes, it was meh. I guess I’ll spend some time on it. Millie Bobby Brown was okay as Elodie. I should’ve expected what I got. This wasn’t an outstanding look at me role. To me, this was Netflix wanting to put something out and hired Millie Bobby Brown because she is popular. Brown didn’t expand on her acting or show any range, which is okay in my book. Always get that check while you can.
Damsel is one of those films that you can put on as background sound. If you want to watch an adventure film with dragons and kingdoms, this is it, but there are far better ones out there. This is an okay film with an okay storyline. Nothing to get excited or worked up about. Maybe find your own damsel and save her.
