Damsel: A Game of Thrones Style Princess Story

A dutiful damsel agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to find the royal family has recruited her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. Thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon, she must rely on her wits and will to survive.

REVIEW:

In Damsel, staring Millie Bobby Brown, there are knights but they do not save the damsel in distress. They are Star Trek red shirts, the crew member everyone knows is going to die before the episode ends.

In Damsel it’s up to the damsel to save herself from the evil dragon. Princess Elodie (Brown) does it with her smarts, her grit, by destroying her wedding dress for survival uses, clever weaponry creation and with a large amount of sympathy for the wounded creature.

The dragon isn’t evil just misunderstood. The surface humans have been lying to this she-dragon for decades to spare themselves from a fiery demise. It just takes a lot of fights, mortal wounds on both sides and some glow worm healing of them for the she-dragon to hear and know the truth. It reads and plays like a rejected Game of Thrones prequel, not quite right for Max, but perfect for Netflix.

Damsel isn’t bad. It just feels a bit gnawed on, especially in the way it tries to cannibalize the feisty Disney Princess profile. It’s an action movie that doesn’t want the standard happily ever after nonsense. It rather borrow horror movie tropes than follow through with standard fairy tale plot cliches. Here, it’s the poor girl marrying the evil rich who need to sacrifice innocent virgins to maintain their wealth.

The special effects are standard and efficient. The dragon is evil looking enough. There is too much running about which serves as game experience for the big dragon fight to come. The Game of Throne twist is not as contrived as it could be. And there is pleasure in watching evil people get the fiery dragon demise they deserve. I did feel a tinkling of remorse for the young prince who showed some redeeming qualities that would make him a decent husband. It’s evident that Princess Elodie wants nothing to do with that marriage stuff – and this dude is no where as good looking and dynamic as Jon Snow. It’s best he becomes dragon toast.