There are few villains more revered in film lore than Maleficent. She is, in my estimation, the greatest of the early Disney villains and certainly top 5 villains in their entire history. It is with that weight and history that we find ourselves begin presented with Maleficent, another in the long line of fairytale revisions. While the visual effects and Angelina Jolie are a delight to witness, the movie encompassing those doesn’t necessary jive together completely, and will leave audiences wanting.
Anyone looking for a simple retelling of the 1950s animated tale will immediately know we are going in a different direction when a voice over introduces us to a world divided, with humans and magical creatures divided. One day a young Maleficent meets a young thief named Stefan whom she makes friends with. Years later, King Henry attempts to overtake the magical world because of reasons (greed? anger cause he doesn’t have wings?) but has his ass handed to him by Maleficent (Jolie) and her tree/root soldier goons. King Henry, being fatally wounded, mentions that he will name a successor if they can vanquish Maleficent. Stefan (Sharlto Copley), remembering an episode where Maleficent is hurt by iron visits the grown fairy and steals her wings. This sets off a chain reaction of events that both embraces and drastically alters the tale we think we know.
Maleficent‘s selling point is, above anything else, seeing Angelina Jolie dons the horns and walk around as the villainess. I am happy to report that there is certainly enough of that to keep fans happy. Jolie is wonderful as the title character, even when the script underneath her isn’t being worthy of the talents of such a great actress. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her be on screen whether she was recreating that classic entrance/curse or in the new interactions she has with a young Aurora. But more so than that, I loved the new material and nuances she was able to find with the character. The scene where she realizes her wings are gone or the many conversations with Diaval, that there is some major character work being done.
Helping Jolie shine is some truly wonderful visuals. I was worried about what would happen with Robert Stromberg directing this film, but his visual eye is pretty good. He doesn’t do anything in particular that wowed me visually, but consistent goodness, especially for a 3D film is of tantamount importance. Assisting him in those efforts is DP Dean Semler who lights the hell out of this movie. When you have people as gorgeous as Jolie it’s hard to not light them decently, but his compositions and use of shadow are amazing.
Now though there is much to like about the movie, I have to say that the script isn’t its strongest element. It’s hard to say whether this remagining is disappointing to me because it strays so far away from source material that I love or because of its new faults, but one thing is for sure, it’s that not everything in the film clicked for me. The main issue I had was that Maleficent doesn’t do a good enough job of establishing what characters other than Maleficent desire or want. This would be fine if their actions had been kept off screen more, but characters like Stefan are driving forces in the narrative and yet we have no beat on what kind of person he is. While this may have worked for Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, it doesn’t work in this film. We’re given no kind of inkling why he cared for Maleficent in the first place or why he cut off her wings so he could be king and that’s a necessary plot point to address. Furthermore, though I am glad this movie was 97 minutes, it seems that there’s at least one scene per character other than Maleficent somewhere on the cutting room floor that could have been used to bolster characterizations. Yes, Maleficent is a compelling protagonist, but she soars when the other around her are well built. The PG rating also hurts the film, especially in the climactic battle, where it needed more oomph than what it was given.
Grade: **1/2/**** (C+)
