Directed By: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Written By: Dan Mazeau

Cinematography: Larry Fong 

Editor: John Gilbert 

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Robin Wright, Angela Bassett, Ray Winstone, Brooke Carter, Nick Robinson, Milo Twomey, Nicole Joseph

A young woman, Elodie, meets a handsome prince and they fall in love. At their wedding it is revealed that the prince had more sinister reasons for courting her: she is to be sacrificed to a dragon that has been terrorizing the kingdom. Elodie now has to fight for her survival.

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This movie would’ve been better off as maybe an episode of a sci-fi, fantasy anthology tale or rather Maybe as a side story on a lord of the Rings type series than a feature film.

It’s pretty simple, cut and dry, and feels like it’s extended for no real reason that adds anything to the overall project tone, or story. 

As it is a tale of female empowerment with a pretty stacked cast, other than Millie Bobby Brown have very little to do but play standard cliché rules that are beneath their talents, especially Angela Bassett in a thankless minute, but pivotal support supporting role. Who seems here because she is in a lot of projects more than what the role actually offers.

This film has this kind of prestigious, framing around itself for something that comes off as a basic bedtime story or nursery rhyme. 

It tries to be a thriller and keep us in anticipation, with the excitement of how she will survive, as well as giving a backstory to why she finds herself in her current situation while learning the power of resilience and not falling victim to all that glitters and those your talk to worship.

Though in the end, it feels like a movie that be more of a time waster, or a seat, filler if it had been released theatrically, as it is more of a seat filler. A film intended to do big business on opening weekend due to the spectacle and previews as well as star and knowingly, less and less money as word-of-mouth spreads.

I can’t fault the production as it is a typical big budget, sci-fi, fantasy, special effects, action movie, only here made small and put in medieval times, but more marketed as a special effect fantasy with not much of a story or plot of why and how we got there . as is put in place as more of a placeholder for the action scenes, which is what really takes over.

The film doesn’t offer much for the actors other than to react and a big game of pretend. it might hold some interest overall it plays itself out fairly early even for a film that is almost 2 hours.

Grade: D