Rating of
1.5/4
Damsel (2024) is not in distress but it is dull
Indyfreak - wrote on 03/16/24
A grittier-than-usual fairy tale about a princess (MBB) condemned to be sacrificed to a bloodthirsty dragon by a ruthless monarch (Wright). She turns the tables on her scaly tormentor and escapes her doom to take revenge on the kingdom that betrayed her.
The set-up for this grungy fantasy flick is promising but it's not as thrilling as it wants to be. The pacing is off (a common problem with Netflix movies) and the characterization changes on a dime. A young prince is introduced as thoughtful if conflicted but then is all too willing to participate in his family's barbaric ritual. The dragon is presented as a voracious man-eater that presumably ate thousands of innocent young women. Yet near the end of the film, it is suddenly meant to be a sympathetic character.
It doesn't help that the script is inconsistent in terms of world-building. At times, the characters talk too much or the dialogue is almost too modern for its own good. Other times, the movie is too light on details about the characters' motivations aside from MBB really. I realized they were cheating by having the dragon use human speech to advance the plot and narrate the situation.
Millie Bobbie Brown is adequate enough as the hostage turned heroine. But her accent is inconsistent. To be fair, everyone has an inconsistent accent. If you want to see Angela Bassett deliver a rare bad performance, here is one. Robin Wright seems to hit the correct note as the evil queen but she's not on screen long enough.
The dragon's design is a let down and the CGI for the dragon is not very good. Think one of the lesser 'Dragonheart' sequels in terms of quality. However I did like the casting of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the dragon.
Some things I did like included Ray Winstone as MBB's father. He's given as much character development as everyone else. But he somehow makes his role work. The middle section when MBB is stuck in the cave and has to become resourceful to rescue herself is the best part of the movie. There are some moments that are suspenseful and well directed.
This movie is about the same length as Disney's earlier '80s movie 'DRAGONSLAYER' but it is nowhere close to that level.
