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By Nicholas Vermaaten, Contributor

[Netflix; 2024]

Rating: 4/10

As is often the case with “beginning-of-the-year Netflix blockbusters,” Damsel ended up being a film that, while far from horrible, is nothing more than forgettable.

Set in the dark fantasy kingdom of Aurea, Damsel follows Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown), a young farmhand offered the prince’s hand in marriage. Elodie accepts it, but things take a turn for the worse when, after their wedding, Elodie is sacrificed to a nearby dragon (Shohreh Aghdashloo) to fulfill a marital tradition from Aurea’s first monarch. What follows can best be described as “Fantasy Die Hard” as Elodie attempts to escape the dragon’s lair, and learn the dark secrets of her nation’s founding.

Read more: Movie Review: Dune: Part Two

If there is one positive thing that I can highlight about Damsel, it would be the film’s visuals. Despite being a dark fantasy, the world of Aurea is portrayed with colorful grandeur, featuring rolling hills of vibrant green and deep caverns glistening with bioluminescent light. The vibrant color palette extends further into the characters’ costumes, which all fit this heightened fantasy look the rest of the film is going for.

On the other hand, the film’s action is less than stellar, often relying upon either copying ideas from better movies, or scenes where an unimpressively animated CGI dragon snakes itself around green screen environments. There is a single action set piece that stands slightly above the rest, where Elodie attempts to climb a wall of jewels at the halfway point. However, Elodie’s lack of characterization makes it hard for audiences to really invest themselves in her safety.

The film especially struggles to get audiences to invest themselves in the characters of its narrative. Personality traits are kept to a minimum, relationships are vague, and character development is only ever hinted at through moments of whispered exposition. The film’s creators seem to have believed that Millie Bobby Brown’s charisma would be enough to draw attention away from these narrative shortcomings, but instead, it makes me wish she spent her time on a much more interesting project.

The Netflix content distribution model is famous for its focus on mediocre disposable content over anything artistically substantial, and this trend is exemplified in Damsel. While I struggle to call it bad, I also struggle to think of reasons to recommend it when so many other better action films are available on the platform.