Trailer:

When a young woman is given as a sacrifice to a fire-breathing dragon, her marriage to a lovely prince becomes a desperate battle for survival.

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When we first meet Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown), she is seen cutting wood with an axe. Translation: She is fierce, daring, and capable. Her sister, Floria (Brooke Carter), has a soft face and expresses her joyful feelings in front of Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright). Translation: She is gentle, fragile, and can easily get scared. Isabelle has a smile that can instantly change from genial to ungracious. Translation: She cannot be easily trusted. When Elodie and her family members arrive at the Kingdom of Aurea, they first notice two statues of dragons. Translation: A real dragon will soon make an appearance. Elodie, before the wedding ceremony, is seen wearing many layers of clothes, giving the impression that she is getting locked up in a fabric prison. Translation: This marriage is a trap.

These small things, in any other case, would have been treated as unexceptional. But when you are someone who has seen his fair share of lackadaisical fantasies on Netflix, you find yourself appreciating such small touches. I know the bar is very low, not just in terms of the story but also visuals. This is why I was pleasantly surprised by the eye-pleasing images in Damsel. The filmmakers, at least, have some respect for the audience. They don’t feed us yet another cheap-looking dud.

So what if the movie eventually amounts to something mediocre? So what if its subtext – women help women and women backstab each other – looks laughable? For most of the time, Damsel manages to be fun and palpable. When Elodie falls from a height, you actually feel as if a real body is hitting against the rocks and getting injured. Naturally, you recoil in horror. The dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo), too, looks somewhat real. I felt that the spikes on her head could hurt my fingers. It’s disappointing that director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo doesn’t visually capture Elodie and this dragon in such a way that the latter appears dominating in front of the former. What we merely get is a watchable game of cat-and-mouse. And what’s Damsel if not a video game masquerading as a feature? One can almost see the prompt “Tap E” when Elodie gets stuck in a confined space or “Hold W” when she is chased by the dragon.

The cave where Elodie is stuck is not treated as a maze with scary secrets. The only scary thing here is the dragon. Apart from her, Elodie comes across blue-colored, caterpillar-like insects that have healing powers. The cave, alas, feels safe (the dragon, like a dumb killer from a slasher, kills time instead of her victim) and easily navigable. This removes all the tension from the situation. Still, due to Bobby Brown’s presence and the competence with which the action is shot, you don’t end up feeling sleepy or bored. The movie, however, loses steam from the point where Floria is thrown in danger. Nothing works, and you simply wait for the end credits to roll.

Damsel is not that good as a fantasy because it doesn’t fill you with awe. It’s also not very good at being an action-thriller because it doesn’t fill you with exhilaration. It simply does its job adequately. I can be more polite by referring to it as serviceable. You don’t come out of it feeling tired. I know the bar is very low, not just in terms of the story and visuals but also tolerance (if it doesn’t put you to sleep, thumbs up).

Final Score- [5.5/10]Reviewed by – Vikas Yadav