I’ve admittedly watched Damsel twice, so it’s obvious that, flaws and all, the film put a big enough smile on my face that I had no problem sitting down for an almost immediate second look.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2024

Even on the smaller screen, though, the fresh, female-led take on the traditional tale, including a bit of a sisterhood-is-powerful twist near the end, makes it worth a watch.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 9, 2024

Too childish and shallow for adults, yet too brutal and gory for kids, this is one Damsel that really does need saving, after all.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 9, 2024

There’s a simple, mechanical satisfaction to watching an underdog fight her way back from the depths, driven by a familiar current of revenge.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 8, 2024

If you can get past the clunky computer generated environments you may be moderately entertained by this story of a girl trying to survive the elements and the threat of a hungry dragon.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 8, 2024

Cleverly turns expectations on their heads while serving as a nifty showcase for Brown, who spends a fair amount of screen time alone other than the impressive special effects.

| Mar 8, 2024

More than a fantasy adventure, Damsel is a grisly and at times even touching tale of endurance and survival. It’s sweaty, snarly fun.

| Mar 8, 2024

Millie Bobby Brown fights a heroic battle as a princess bride up against a digital dragon, but it’s not the damsel but the audience that will suffer distress from the nonstop, numbing repetition that turns this movie dull and dreary way too fast.

| Mar 8, 2024

One of the strange bromidic pleasures of the movie, competently directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later), is that all moments arrive without surprise, simply meeting expectations.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 8, 2024

It’s hard to imagine what anyone could get out of Damsel that isn’t already liberally covered by Brown’s other projects.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 8, 2024

As with the Enola Holmes movies, Brown is the best part of this feminist spin on what’s usually a boys’ adventure narrative involving slashing swords and slaying beasts.

| Mar 8, 2024

It's rarely convincing, either in a script sense or a visual sense, and its hastily constructed sets and shoddy CGI work barely passes muster.

| Original Score: C | Mar 8, 2024

Of course women can slay dragons, but can we get another pass on the script before they head out to do battle?

| Original Score: C+ | Mar 8, 2024

With Millie Bobby Brown delivering inspired and strong work as a dragon-fighting Final Girl, this is one “Damsel” who doesn’t need anyone to rescue her, thank you very much.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 8, 2024

Brown brings the same energy here as to her role in the Enola Holmes series.

| Mar 8, 2024

What matters most is whether we believe Brown in the role, and the “Stranger Things” star has no trouble embodying the kind of quick-thinking independent mind it takes to survive such an adventure.

| Mar 8, 2024

Mostly... “Damsel” is evidence that studios still don’t realize that a “strong female lead” is not enough to make a movie good.

| Mar 8, 2024

There’s a credibility gap the size of Mount Dragon.

| Mar 8, 2024

Has its heart in the right place but little else, starting out competently and then slowly falling apart with each clumsy step along its "Game of Thrones"-lite path.

| Mar 8, 2024

Rather than being any particular person’s bright idea for a girlboss fantasy revenge caper, this lousy romp was obviously hatched by an algorithm, and might just as well have been directed by AI.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Mar 8, 2024