Millie Bobby Brown and Netflix have a very interesting relationship. Cuz whenever she is in a Netflix-produced movie/show, it always does well. And we were expecting the same from ‘Damsel’ too. I mean, you’re getting MBB playing a princess AND fighting a dragon in the same movie, aur kya chahiye??? Well, I’ll tell you– ek better story chahiye. The way this movie falls flat is unreal. Predictable to the core, has bad VFX, characters that have literally no depth… and a story that is just mid at best– ‘Damsel’ gets almost everything wrong.
Plot
Plot main kya hi explain karu, trailer mein 3 minutes mein puri movie toh already dikha hi di hai… sighs. Wahi ghisi-piti *princess ka arranged marriage to a royal family that is secretly evil* waali kahaani hai. Anyway, so the moment the princess gets married, the prince legit yeets her off from a cliff to this underground cave to ‘fulfill a dark, ancestral debt.’ Uske baad se it is just Millie Bobby Brown and House Of The Dragon ka rip-off collab for the rest of the movie where she does everything to defeat the dragoness (who can talk btw LMFAO) and go back up again. And I guess we all know what happens in the end. The sheer predictability bro. It’s like they threw in every cliché they could think of and hoped for the best.
Performances
Bhai, koi kuch bhi bole, Millie Bobby Brown always gives her best. And it is the same this time. She’s elegant as the princess, and equally ruthless when left down there to survive. Gotta give it to her man, but let’s be real, her character is about as deep as a puddle of water. Isliye she doesn’t get to show what she’s actually capable of. And jab lead character hi weakly written ho, toh supporting characters mein toh ghanta depth hoga. The rest of the cast is just there, they say their lines, but none of them really stand out. Such a waste of talent, honestly. You literally had the Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett in your cast, and you fck up her character too? Bruh.
Direction and Writing
Easily the weakest link of the movie. The script is just so subpar. It feels like a 13-year-old wrote the basic storyline and the writers simply added the details for it to be long enough. The story is so predictable, you’ll prolly guess how it ends by the first 30 minutes. Cliche plot twists, cringe dialogues and… wait, dialogues se yaad aaya, whose idea was it to make the fckin dragon talk???? Why TF would you do that? Makes no sense to me honestly. Survival thriller ki jagah Disney movie lagne lagti hai by the end. The direction is pretty mid too. You’re not interested to know why the in-laws did this to Elodie, or if she’s gonna survive. Haven’t been this bored in a long while.
Screenplay and Cinematography
The screenplay is all over the place. It’s like they couldn’t decide whether they wanted a serious fantasy epic or a cheesy Disney dragon feature. Even the whole Elodie trying to escape death thing, which is basically 75% of the movie, doesn’t get you excited. When the movie is on the surface of the Earth, it is visually pleasing. Those medieval landscapes and the royal vibes feel so good, and thanks to the perfect costume design, we can simp on MBB khulke huehue. But the moment we enter the cave scenes, the VFX suddenly gets straight-up horrible. Usey dragon kyu bolte ho, Toothless kyu nahi. It’s like they ran out of budget or creativity. Probably both.
Overall, pretty fckin disappointed. This could have been so so good, but the story was just too basic. I get the whole releasing this on Women’s Day idea, but this movie doesn’t do justice to the idea of women empowerment at all. It’s almost criminal to expect anything groundbreaking from the movie. It’s more like a “how not to make a fantasy movie” tutorial. Isse achha toh GOT ki season 8 phirse dekh loon (Yeah, now you get it, don’t you?).
