Let's Go Out To The Movies: Maleficent

Directed by Robert Stromberg

Alo Party Peoples.

The reception to Disney's reworking of their archetypal fairy tale Sleeping Beauty has been, interesting to say the least. I imagine that this is going to be a big film for people with daughters, and I hate to be a party-pooper, but this might not be the best film for them. It isn't bad, in fact there are plenty of good things about Maleficent, but I'll try to explain.

As the film opens we see Maleficent as a young girl in the land of magic, she meets a human peasant by the name of Steven and they fall into a romance. Eventually they grow apart and she becomes the protector of the fair folk, while Steven has become a close ally of the king of the neighboring expansionist human kingdom. When said king is on his death bed he proclaims that he who takes out Maleficent shalt become his successor. So Steven goes back to the realm of magic and catches up with her. Then he, drugs her and cuts off her wings to present to the king as a trophy.

Well, that's definitely a step further than just being snubbed a party invite. Way to give Maleficent incredibly understandable motives for cursing the new king's daughter. At best, this is a metaphor for domestic abuse, at worst a metaphor for sexual abuse. I'm not the only critic to have picked up on this, and I'm wondering who at Disney decided to go there for the inaugural piece in their plans to retool their animated canon in live action.

Anyways, Maleficent is understandably furious about this, and once she hears that king Steven has had a child, she shows up at the party and does what she's known for in a shot for shot tribute to Sleeping Beauty. The other fairies decide to look after her, but in this version they're so bad at it that Maleficent ends up shadowing them so Aurora will live long enough for the curse to work. This is all rather rushed by the way, clocking in at one hour and 37 minutes, which is rather short for a blockbuster. A story of this size spanning years probably would have warranted the 2.5 hour treatment, unlike some recent fantasy blockbusters I could name.

The film looks gorgeous, if not terribly original, mostly borrowing from Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings, but still gorgeous. The effects are beautiful, the costume design terrific, and Angelina Jolie's Maleficent looks like the best translation from animation that you could have asked for. Jolie, incidentally, completely steals the show in the title role, she's clearly having a ton of fun in this part and she nails it. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast ranges from forgettable to annoying. Elle Fanning's Aurora is shallow, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, and Imelda Staunton as the good fairies are obnoxious, but maybe that's intentional. This is after all, telling Sleeping Beauty from the view of Maleficent, so the traditional heroes are either evil, stupid, or unimportant. Case in point, Brenton Thwaites as the prince is essentially a cameo, and Sharito Copley as the king is kind of a terrible person, with a decent performance.

Disney's first horse out of the gate in terms of their plans for a live action retooling of their animated canon is kind of a mixed bag. On one hand it's a beautiful looking film with a fantastic lead performer in Angelina Jolie, but it's also a rather rushed film and the rest of the cast is just sort of there. Go ahead and see it I guess, but maybe wait a week for the crowds to die down.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

Oh, and if you were wondering about A Million Ways To Die In The West, I didn't see it. Most of the professional's opinions have ranged from mediocre to terrible.