Maleficent, 2014.
Directed by Robert Stromberg.
Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.
SYNOPSIS:
A vindictive fairy is driven to curse an infant princess only to realize the child may be the only one who can restore peace.
For a man of 23 years old I was probably too excited with the prospect of this film. However like the children of the 70’s who still now cow in terror from the Daleks, I too still find myself somewhat fearful of the only Disney villain more wicked and evil than even Jafar or Scar, whose motives and ambitions were clear.
In Sleeping Beauty the motives of Maleficent are ambiguous at best, giving me hope this movie could flesh out the character and give the audience fresh insight. Whilst it fleshes out Maleficent it does so neither in the way expected, nor in a way that is all that interesting.
Angelina Jolie, it has to be said, is at her absolute finest in this movie. Despite my gripe about the uninteresting story Jolie did wonderfully that throughout I still felt engaged by her and not until the final act did I know this truly was not going to turn into the movie I expected it to be. She is believably evil and tortured yet still has fun with her sidekick played by Sam Riley. Her interactions with Elle Fanning’s Aurora are sweet and genuine but are definitely some of the films weaker scene’s (the less said about Sharlto Copley the better).
I love the visual effects; the transformations by Riley’s character are well portrayed on screen, the magical area of this world was amazing looking (if a bit ‘Avatarish’ in their appearance) and the tonal changes that take place are equally stunning, staying somewhat true to the original fairy tale.
I would by no means tell someone to not see this film. Jolie gives a brilliant performance, laced with evil and humanity in equal measure showing us a side to the character that we have never seen before and I doubt that anyone else could have delivered. She looks and absolutely nails the role she has been given. It is merely unfortunate that the screenplay is too spotty and predictable to do her performance justice.
That aside it is probably my own fault for expecting this to be one movie and finding myself watching another, forgetting that at its heart this is still a Disney fairy tale. Unfortunately it will be hard for a lot of people to go into their cinema without a certain expectation due to what they already know of the story, not getting the happy ending that anyone expected or indeed wanted.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★
Matt Spencer-Skeen
Originally published May 29, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
