There were so many options to choose on various streaming platforms this week that I had a bit of difficulty in deciding what to see first. Ultimately I opted to go with this film as I thought it had an interesting premise. OK then, I will get right with it.

Brief Story Line

Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown - Enola Holmes 2, Godzilla 2: King of Monsters etc), the daughter of Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Black Widow etc) was arranged for marriage with Prince Henry (Nick Robinson - The 5th Wave etc), the son of Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright - Blade Runner 2049, Wonder Woman 1984 etc) from Kingdom Aurea. Despite her reluctance, Elodie decided to accept the arrangement even though she did not know and love the prince as it would help their people. 

Together with her younger sister Floria (Brooke Carter), their father and step mother (Angela Basset - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, American Horros Story TV series etc), Elodie went to Aurea Kingdom for the wedding ceremony. Unexpectedly for Elodie, she would find herself being chased by a dangerous fire breathing dragon (voiced by Shohrer Aghdashloo - The Expanse TV series etc) adamant on killing her. Now Elodie must find ways to survive from the dragon's pursuit. 

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

You know when I read the brief synopsis and saw the poster (I purposely did not watch the trailer as I worried it might reveal too much), I thought this would be a film where Millie Bobby Brown's character embarked on a journey, trapped in plenty of dangerous situation and fight against many enemies. Turned out it was different from my expectation. Yes there was danger that she was in but it was not the kind I pictured.  

I actually like the story here as it was certainly unique for a fairy tale. Unlike other type of similar stories where the female character was usually the one being saved (hence the term "damsel in distress"), this one was the opposite as she had to save herself. But I was a bit unhappy that almost the entire suspenseful part of the movie were shot in the dark which was not exactly enjoyable to watch. Plus there were so many screamings involved that was understandable, though personally for me a bit too much (even my wife who was watching something else felt a bit annoyed). 

The movie was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later, Intruders etc) and written by Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans, Fast X). From what I read, the screenplay by Mazeau was used by Evelyn Skye to write her own novel which was published before the film was released. So does this mean the film was based on the novel or the other way around? Anyway, as I said, I thought this fairy tale with a twist was smart and interesting. 

The cast were pretty decent with Millie Bobby Brown obviously the star of the movie. I thought Robin Wright was quite convincing in her role that made me felt satisfied with the ending, but I felt Angela Basset did not have enough screen time to show her capabilities. The action was not bad and there were some suspense here and there. It's just not really sufficient to satisfy my appetite for more adventure. But I did like the dragon and I thought the voice characterization was quite brilliant. It's probably similar to my feeling of hearing Sean Connery voiced Draco in that popular 1996 movie Dragonheart. 

Overall this was still a good enough dark fantasy film with a unique story and some entertaining moments. The intensity was OK, but there were too many dark scenes and loud screaming throughout. It had a duration of 110 minutes which included some long closing credits without any mid/post end credit scenes. So if you are interested in watching different kind of fairy tale, then this should fit into the category. But if you are like me and expecting fun adventure kind of movie, then this would not truly satisfy you.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars