MALEFICENT
Another film screening in two days and a much more enjoyable Maleficent movie it turned out to be. Disney’s latest venture into the land of fairystyle is a well-intentioned, but unfortunately uneven endeavor. For all its beauty and grandeur, the movie’s one saving grace is the tantalizing notion of glory that is Angelina Jolie. No stranger to tackling larger-than-life personas, Jolie wields a charming and magnetic power.
Thanks to this — and a few epic battles that may very well rival some LotR skirmishes — Maleficent is instant, enjoyable popcorn.
Disney takes one of their most beloved or loathed cartoon villains, from the classic 1959’s Sleeping Beauty, and gives her a bit of a makeover. Maleficent – the Mistress of All Evil – is reinterpreted as a misunderstood fairy that got the short end of the staff when her one true love Stefan, played by Sharlto Copley (Elysium), breaks her heart in an act of true cruelty.
This act leads our scorned fairy down her well documented — from the animated film — path, with the glamorous horned one cursing the young newborn of the now King Stefan, Aurora (Super 8‘s Elle Fanning), dooming her to a spinsters pointy sleep. Following these events is when Disney’s reinterpretation of their classic film takes a new path. Here, Jolie truly shines as one of the most unconventional Mouse Princesses ever, thrown in with production design beauty only reminiscent of Avatar.
The magical fairy land comes to life in the directorial debut of Robert Stromberg, whose visual effects have been a delight for years (i.e. Pan’s Labyrinth, Life of Pi and Avatar). Thanks to Stromberg’s decision to use the collaborations of wonderful on-screen talents, costume designs by Ann B. Shepard, and production designs by Gary Freeman/Dylan Cole, Maleficent shoots above its own lack of proper story development.
Through and through, this is a ship captained by Mrs. Pitt that should very well make back its budget of $175 million. There’s a very comedic, grounded humanity to this otherwise misunderstood fairy. Though unfortunately, like this Apostle, you will find yourself clutching onto the shining moments of this magnificent performance, for this movie doesn’t rise above merely “solid” on the base of its main actress and gorgeous CG sets alone. Even with that, the film does find a way to add a new spin to a classic tale.
The road to the end just has a few potholes to circumvent: See it, enjoy it and skip out on the 3D — it’s not worth it.
Disney’s Maleficent also in theaters this Friday, May 30.