'Damsel' Review | Netflix

0:00 Hey, I'm Derek. And I'm Noah. You're listening to A Bite of. Where we take our current favorite pop culture obsession and enjoy it 1 Nibble at a time. Big Dragon nibble. Yes of. Course. Yeah, small. Well, you know, we we want to talk about this damsel. Damsel. Oh my God. Millie Bobby Brown's Damsel Netflix movie. That Millie Bobby Brown, she's really come around. Does she deserve the crown? Rhyme time. Yeah. So before we get into everything, if you're watching, watching this on YouTube, like subscribe notifications, what do you say?

0:41 I don't know. We're also on our way still to 200 reviews. So do that. Give us some little reviews if you like what you hear. Programming reminders down the Pike. We may or may not have received a mysterious transmission in our inbox. 3 Body Problem. We will be having a review on the new series, new sci-fi, brainy series that Netflix is doing. We're in a very Netflix mood, I guess, right now. They've been releasing the stuff. I mean, we've been excited about three body problems since Tadum in Brazil. So I mean, that gave us the introduction to the Avatar cast. That gave us the one piece cast. That gave us three body problem. We're just doing all of them. Yeah, we're just going through the whole tadum. Lineup.

1:23 So today, Damsel, we're doing like kind of like a A Small nibble review, right? It's a enjoyable movie. It's short and sweet, so why not? Yeah, this is like a fast food. Oh yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, easy. It goes down easy. It's tasty. It's small. It gets the job done. That's my review and the episode. Hopefully not bad at nutrition though. Well, it could have been trimmed a little bit around the edges. We'll find out. So spoilers spoiler review. If you have not seen Damsel on Netflix, go watch it, Come back and let's talk. About it All right, so let us officially take a bite of Danzel Danzel Denzel Washington. Let us officially take a bite of damsel. Written by Dan Mazzo and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Elodie is committed to taking care of her family and village. Unfortunately for her, the harsh winter is leaving her people starving.

2:13 Her father receives a message from Queen Isabel that her son, Prince Henry, is looking for a young girl to marry. If she agrees to be his wife, Elodie's people will receive an abundance of riches. Her dedication leads her to agreeing to taking his hand. However, the Kingdom harbors a dark secret and Elodie is only a pawn. After their union, they travel to the top of a mountain where she is thrown into a pit as a sacrifice for a vengeful dragon. See spoilers. That's a whole movie. I left out the prologue. Boy, that's about it. All right, so before we get into the nitty gritty of this, initial thoughts. So my initial thoughts are that I really thought it was a quick, fun fantasy action.

2:57 I thought Melly Bobby Brown did a great job leading this cast and all said is done. I mean, I'm not saying it's high art, but I'm also not saying it's trash. It was thoroughly enjoyable. So you're saying it shouldn't be burnt to a crisp by the dragon? Absolutely. It should not be heated over a bridge and sacrificed. Yeah, I mean, I agree, right. It's not, you know, I I think going into this, I wouldn't expect something like high brow or anything like that, but it was a good time. It does. It's like the conceit of it. It's kind of like a revenge type thing and like, you know, Bride to be in a sham marriage for an alternative. But yeah, it's been said and done before.

3:37 Having it in the fantasy setting is kind of fun. And I think Millie Bobby Brown's performance really carried the movie visuals great. Yeah, I had a fun time. Absolutely. We watched this on a Saturday morning, and I know that sounds bizarre, but it was actually kind of perfect, right? Right. It was like almost Saturday morning cartoon fair. It wasn't too heavy and it was like kind of like, yeah, that was that kind of rocked. Yeah, let's go out to our day now. What were the things that really worked for you for this movie? So I really do think that Mellie, Bobby Brown was incredible in this. So seeing her kind of grow up before our eyes starting as 11 and Stranger Things, you know, personally in my opinion, I think I've said this on the pod before her 11 and Stranger Things kind of became repetitive, especially in the last season where we would see her use her power and she would faint. So I really appreciated getting to see Millie Bobby Brown really kind of go for it in this action set. She was screaming, she was running, she was, you know, ripping up clothes and things like that. So I think that watching her be able to really kind of chew on this material was.

4:43 Great. And it's cool too, because you see her career progressing, right? She did Enola Holmes, which we really enjoyed. Also very fun movies. And she's an executive producer for this. So it's cool to see her, you know, literally just growing up. It's almost in a way like mirroring her career in a way. And she's being able to defeat the big Dragon. I really like it. I think the thing that, you know, I I feel like the story itself is a little disjointed. Like the middle part gets a little repetitive and the ending was a little rushed. But you know, if there was another one for some reason, I'd watch it. Yeah, I agree. I would definitely watch it, you know, and I think that one of the things that this sort of has going for it, you know, when it comes to these high fantasy things, sometimes there are a lot of different places and a lot of different characters, but the cast is pretty tight, right? I'd say there are like 6 main players to this entire thing. And really just two main players, the Dragon and Millie Poppy Brown.

5:40 Totally. And then even on top of that, as far as places that you're going, you're only in her village for a little bit. You're in the Kingdom and in the mountain, Yeah, And that's about it. I like that sometimes, you know, I'm sure you've seen the memes or the tik toks where it's like reading a a fantasy and you're just like they go to the blah blah exactly. And it's like I. Liked that? We didn't get any of that. Sometimes fantasy is just nice to be like Brain turned off. I want to see the story unfold. Things that really worked for me, the cast and I liked that. The whole concept of the damsel, she's not actually damsel, she's saved herself. But I liked that the main players in this were also women, because we have Angela Bassett, we have Robin Wright and Millie Bobby Brown, even the dragon. I mean, they're all, all the main players are women and all of the awful people are also the men in this.

6:28 And one woman. And one woman, it's very good. So those are the things that really worked for me. I think visually looked good. There was only a few times where the CGI was a little wonky, like when the dragon was flying away with them. I was like, oh weird, like the lighting doesn't look right. I'm not an expert in any way, just visually what I. See a dragon flying. The dragon itself, great. I liked the design of it because it wasn't what you would expect. You know you're almost I feel like we're trained to think of like Game of Thrones Dragons and this one was very like cave like but you know terrifying I. Felt like she had almost some Griffin in her especially, just like with how big her arms and her legs were.

7:09 You know, it wasn't like a Tyrannosaurus Rex dragon, right? It was like, really grounded in the Earth. She had like a like a high abdomen almost, yeah. I agree. And the dragon is voiced by Shore Aguera Shloo, and that voice is just so supremely perfect. I mean, it's like, I think now we have 2 perfect voice actors. For Dragons, we have Benedict Cumberbatch and her perfect. Like, they sound so good as Dragons. I love them. But having her be the voice of it, especially in The Cave and when she's, you know, going after the Millie Bobby Brown, it's just intense and kind of scary. But even in the moments where you find out why she's doing this, she still was able to voice those things.

7:53 You know, it wasn't just scary and snarling the whole time. Absolutely, yeah. I mean I think that she, as you know, we always talk about depth, but I think that she was able to give this dragon depth, you know, and the the back story of the dragon is something that really feeds into the plot and allows us to basically side with the dragon through some. Of this fair, you know the whole thing of like them thinking, you know the dragon came into their town. No, you came into the dragon space and then killed the children of the dragon. The only the last of the line. Unprovoked. Unprovoked. So, you know, fair. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, sacrificing, you know, the daughters for like 100 years kind of sucks. But also the wrong daughters.

8:36 Kind of suck, but they're like, we're not going to give up our line. But watch this. I I liked that. I liked, you know, there's not many twists and stuff, and the twists aren't like you don't see them coming. You can kind of see them coming, which plays into the easy watching of this. But I thought it was smart for them to just mix the blood together and then literally throwing these women down. The chasm, like, is insane. It's, it's. Yeeting. Yeah. Like that girl Yeats that can in the hallway, he Yeats, these girls over the edge of this thing. And it's it was that was kind of tough to watch, you know watching her being LED, feeling like prey and then thrown over the edge and it's like a chasm, right?

9:21 I mean, I don't know how this girl survived, to be completely honest. If that were me. Bones shattered dead. I want to definitely read the book. After this. There was a book that was written. It adapted the screenplay of this. So technically the script came first and then they gave it to the author and the author could do whatever they want. And I do know it more has Asian characters in it, so I'm more interested in reading that after watching this. Yeah, so I I had read an article on The Hollywood Reporter and I just wanted to share this quote by Evelyn Sky, the author. She says the easiest way to think about it is this. Dan Mazzo wrote the original screenplay. I was able to read an early draft and was given free reign to write my own version of the story, which ultimately became the novel. Both the novel and the movie may stem from the same origin, but they are also each their own unique works of art. I've heard really good things about the novel, so I'm excited to read it.

10:13 If you've read it, let us know. Yeah, I would love to know that. And it's really interesting what Netflix is doing with this, right? This is the second time they did this. They did this with the Queen Charlotte story for Bridgerton. And it's like when they know that they're going to have a property come out that could possibly be in a book, they bring in an author and release them at the same time. It's. Smart. You know, it's it's, it's almost like most of the big studios doing merch, like creating toys. Netflix is like, well, let's like do books, yeah. What's another way they can interact with the story I know? I really liked it. I thought the action of this it's kind of action light like there is action but it's more like cat and mouse type stuff. Definitely. I thought that worked really well, the initial chasing. So when she first gets into that big cavern and you first see that bird that's on fire and then the flock of birds that are on fire. It's was such a cool introduction to this of like how it's going to because you could see the dragon messing with her, like she's there's corpses of pasts, princesses, innocent princesses that were killed.

11:12 And so like, you can see that she's kind of playing with them almost and fairly, you know, for what she thinks she's doing. Great introduction for. I thought it was really good. It got a little repetitive. It's like, OK, OK, OK, OK, like she's going to escape. But I do not expect a jump, like, a jump scare almost. Or like the dragon to attack as she did when she got to the edge of that Cliff. Oh yeah, And she's yelling for the people to help her. And the dragon just comes right into that. I was like, that was good. Yeah, I I I felt like with the dragon, the Dragons alone for a long time. So when one of these girls drops down, she's going to take her time with eating them. And so one of the things about this that I liked in the story, but I'm kind of questioning just at the execution of it, was that when she gets into this one safe space, she sees scrawled on the walls the names of the girls who had died. One girl in particular is named V, who has sort of mapped out this layer, tells her what's where, where the Dragon's going to be.

12:08 And so that I really liked. Right. But then we have this other piece where she's able to see the ghosts of these girls, right. And so when V showed up, I was like, oh, that was really cool. But there's a part when she's in the castle before she's thrown over before she gets married, where she sees in the one of the windows of the castle a Princess, and that turns out to be one of the princesses that died before her. I see. That's where I'm. I feel like the story is a little disjointed because I don't know. Like I don't know if she was already killed or if she then got killed after her. Because remember, there's three, and by the end of it, when she goes to the castle, there's a wedding happening and she's going to be the third one because they think Lodi escaped, you know, So that would almost make sense.

12:59 Like she had to have been before her, right? And then it's her sister and then this new person. So that is interesting. Yeah, so I think that's what I was trying to piece together. Was that one part in particular? Was she a ghost she was seeing in the castle, or was she still alive? Because she does see her down in The Cave, and she does look freshly killed. Yeah, so she might have been that night. Right. So these people are busy. They're going up and down the mountain. They're planning these parties. They're throwing girls over. I'm like. Come on, it's a Prince Henry, which I love. Like just the base of it, right? It's like it's a a fantasy story. It's a fairy tale that we all know. And of course, the prince's name is Henry. It's a very standard Eric Henry James name.

13:41 So it's like, did he that night go throw her And then the next morning they're like, hi, we're getting married. He's like, this is like freaking Groundhog's Day. Keep marrying these girls. Yeah, but he actually, he's played by Nick Robinson, who we love from Love Simon. And so, I mean, he isn't in it that much, but apparently he's so charming that he gets these girls to fall in love with him in one night. Yeah, I mean, he didn't. He doesn't have to do much. He just has to stroll in the garden for like 2 seconds. Yeah, you know, let's. His hair blow in the wind. Yeah, the whole system of it. Again, the the plot or the reason for is really interesting. You know, it's like, if you think about it, it's like how many times did they have to do this in for generations? And clearly they're getting women or girls or brides from places that need it.

14:33 So it kind of corners them into having to do it. Real fucked up, really. Oh yeah. Fucked up. So here's another fucked up thing that I wanted to ask you about. So when they're at the castle before she's married, her father goes into a meeting with Queen Isabel and we don't see it. We're on the outside with their stepmother, played by Angela Bassett, and he comes out and he doesn't want to tell her what happened in the meeting. So he basically knew. And he was like, yeah, cool. Well, he seemed to have been struggling with this information. Yeah. I mean, I don't think I did. Like when he's dying in The Cave after he decides to have a conscience and goes back to save his daughter.

15:16 And he's like, forgive me, She doesn't say she forgives him, which I did like. I mean, she does kiss him because it's father, her father. But I did like that, right? Also, the father sucks. I don't care. Like you still made that decision. I don't care that you came back. I'm glad all of you got killed because you all. Suck agreed. But I that was a part that I did like, yeah, I I think. That was pretty brutal. It sucks, yeah. I did like the sort of poetic killing of him where the dragon just like presses her claw into his chest so the armor pierces his heart. So his heart is slowly breaking as he's dying on the floor, possibly watching his daughter die as well. Wow, I wonder if they meant that. Listen, somebody's got to think of something. How did what did you think about the cast? Because we have Robin Wright, Angela Bassett, Millie Bobby Brown.

16:06 He had some very big actors than this. I I How did you feel about them? Well, you know them as actors obviously are very talented. Was the material that deep? I don't think so. Right. So when Angela Bassett appeared on screen, I turned to you and I went, is that Angela Bassett? Yeah. Like, is Angela Bassett in this Netflix movie? Damsel. Like, I didn't even know that. So that was like, really cool to see. Robin Wright obviously is a legend, but you know, it's base level evil, Evil Queen. It's base level stepmother trying to win her stepdaughter's affection, but I think that the cast as a whole was very well-rounded and well put together. Yeah, I think by the end of it, whenever she finally called her mother, I was like, OK, that's why you guys kept calling her stepmother the entire movie.

16:55 I was like, you could just call her by her name. Dear God. Like, thanks stepmother. Hi, stepmother. I'm like. Very formal back in Ye Olde Dragon days. Way to, like, make sure she knows. Yeah. You're my stepmother. Thanks for dinner, stepmother. I did think that we could have had a little more depth to the Elodie and her sister storyline to see their connection. That is probably where I thought the weakest point in this movie was. They did a lot of these things where the sisters would, like, be looking in the mirror together and then they'd catch each other. Ryan, just like, yeah, I mean. I think they had a short period of time to make sure you saw that connection. I think it was there, like, you could tell that she cared for her and you could tell that she cared for her village. But like that's the extent of what they wanted to show us. I feel like they could have done a little more. But why?

17:48 You know, like if this is going to be a one and done short quick movie, it's like. OK, yeah, I so I guess I don't need more. I just needed something different because all we really saw was them hugging and giggling. Together, she went back for her. Well, no, that is the TI mean Again, yeet Part 2, he eats the sister over. But so I do agree with that. But I think, like, leading up to it, they could have given them something more like, I don't know, talking about maybe when their mom died and how they came together and really were able to only lean on each other. You know, we didn't get that right. Although I did think that that beginning scene of Millie Bobby Brown chopping wood, I wrote in my notes, I said, oh, she really cares for her sister.

18:32 And then I wrote, Wow, Elodie's really strong. Just chopping all the way. Chopping all the way she. Was like Captain America chopping, Yeah. Well, she if she started, like, pulling them apart, I'm like, OK, OK. But I appreciated that because then later on when she was like running all over that, you know, cave and climbing up crystals, I was like, OK, OK, well, we saw that she's very strong, right? So that makes sense for this, that she could survive. Yeah. I mean, she didn't need to prove that she could do it. She could do it. She's mainly Bobby Brown. She's mainly Bobby Brown. She's getting burnt to the high heavens. She could always do it. Yeah. Yeah. So good movie. Yeah. Great time. What did you think of the Magic Glow Worms? They're fine.

19:15 I mean, I I it makes sense for the story, but it was clearly they had to bring something to for her to heal the dragon. You know what? I feel like the ending of it is what Game of Thrones should have been like. This is the ending Daenerys Targaryen deserved. She should have just, like, killed the people she needed to kill and then, like, left. Like, with my Dragons, I'm done. I did what I needed to do. You guys suck so that they could have taken notes from that. Yeah, this story. Yeah, I mean, it's fine. They're glow worms that magically heal magical glow. It's. Fine, I did enjoy them. It's a fantasy element, you know. So that's probably why, like, there's like, soft things that happen. Like she either saw the ghost or whatever, and maybe she didn't.

19:57 She just was like pretending to see them. I don't know, Maybe for like the movie, we see what she's seeing because she sees the names just for the weight of it. But we needed to see the faces of these girls. Yes, to bring more weight to it. That I agree with. I enjoyed the glow worms. I thought they were great and I think that ultimately seeing the, you know, royal family get their just desserts felt good. I thought she was going to live in the castle though. No, I don't know where she's going, I hope. I mean, I guess she might be going back to her village to like, spread the wealth and whatever. She has dragon now, so that's cool. Well, that was out. What I was wondering, right, so she wants to travel the world, I think. And the dragon was coming with her, right? They make amends.

20:38 It's quite lovely. And I was like, now are Dragons like a regular thing in this world? Are people not going to be super frightened of this dragon? Probably. I I just love the idea. She's like, OK, I'm going to travel the world with my sister and my mother and my dragon and like, fuck the village I came from. I mean, it's girl power. Go help your village and then go. Maybe they already got the riches, maybe you know, they brought that in the quick turn around time or something. But yeah, she's like, well look, I almost died quite a few times. You guys are on your own. All right. So wrapping up, what do you rate this? I'm going to give this Are we allowed to do quarter, quarter stars? No, no.

21:22 That's weird. Then I'm going to give it a solid three stars. Yeah, I give it three dragon eggs for the three children that were lost. Roasted Literally. Yeah, I mean, I I think it's a solid, fun, enjoyable movie. It's all I needed. You know, I completely agree. I think that you're right. It gave what it was giving. Also, more Dragons. I love Dragons. I love stories with Dragons. Give me all of those. That's fine. I wouldn't. Mind a second one, right then. I don't know. Maybe they travel around and. Find more Dragons. Find more Dragons and stop evil ne'er do wells and things. You know other evil Queens or something and. Then they have to, you know. And then rebuild the dragon population. There you go. That I like.

22:06 All right, well, let us know what you thought of Damsel. What's your favorite, you know, Dragon Media? Let us know. I was going to say Dragon Movie, but it's like, I mean, I guess I could ask Dragon. Property. Yeah, Dragon Property Media, whatever. You know what? Who's your favorite dragon? Smog. All right. Till next time. Bye, bye.