THE Overview
“Damsel” begins with a young woman’s voice intoning, “There are tales of chivalry, where the heroic knight saves the damsel in distress.” “This is not one of them.”
Well, thank God for that, I thought sarcastically and maybe just a little bit mean. There was someplace inside my head where I heard Miranda Priestly: Strong female lead? Groundbreaking.
I can take a tough broad as well as the next person, but this foot first — we’re not like other girls; we’re cool girls — it’s getting stale. The thing about “Damsel” is it isn’t terrible, just a bit chewed on. It is an action film that Millie Bobby Brown stars as Elodie who is a princess from a poor kingdom dominated by her father (Ray Winstone) and stepmother (Angela Bassett). Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) from Dan Mazeau’s screenplay. She agrees to marry the handsome prince belonging to a significantly more prosperous realm. Only to realize there was something much darker at stake.
There are few parts of “Damsel,” including several captures shots here. And there that brought me back to one of the best feminist action movies released in recent times; “Ready or Not”. In 2019 film where she marries into a wealthy family. But discovers they have really disturbing traditions like this horrific game you must play until dawn if you want to survive. It follows a similar plotline but set in a make-believe land with dragons and Robin Wright serving as its queen. (One part also evokes “Eyes Wide Shut,” though this isn’t that type of movie.)
Elodie is like one of Disney’s modern-day princesses: intelligent enough to ride horses, read books, interpret maps and outwit snares. She is resourceful and strong-willed when searching for an escape route. In the beginning of this movie, she is obedient, deferential, and corseted. But by the end she has a very short skirt on and is not taking any nonsense. She basically became self-realized.
None of these things are necessarily bad. It is nice to have heroines who love their families, take up responsibilities willingly. And learn to overcome what they fear most. This especially appeals to a younger audience, which may very well dominate the viewership of “Damsel”—fans of “Stranger Things” who enjoyed Eleven played by Brown. Plus, dragons and castles kind of make it better.
However, the film is lacking in quite a number of ways. Predictably, its visual effects appear cheap as do most Netflix-produced movies like this one. But the bigger issue lies in its pace: The first part moves so fast that it shocks us into consciousness. So that means early big twist; henceforth everything else feels repetitive with Elodie facing off against numerous oddly similar challenges to her own survival throughout most of the film. None of that can be helped as this section drags on forever and ever without any change in scenery or anything else interesting taking place along the way at all really. At least once we know how this happened it seems like a weak payoff for such a huge build-up.”
However, “Damsel,” on the other hand, shows that studios have not yet recognized that having a “strong female lead” is not everything in a movie; it takes more than that to make it good. However, what is required is a great supporting cast of characters, an excellent plot line and knowing what appeals to the audience. But even for strong female leads they must be human beings with real needs and weaknesses. Therefore, such two-dimensional heroes are rather inspiring than convincing because they always choose wisely. The message may appear as if young people can only be heroines. By deriving their strength from physical, emotional and mental power but does not help much either. Also not helpful for older ones.
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