“Maleficent” (2014) – Designed as a live-action reimagining of Disney’s own animated classic, "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), with special emphasis on (re)telling the classic story from the titular horned fairy’s perspective, this big-budgeted, spectacle-driven affair is a poorly-conceived mess from start to finish. Pulling a switcheroo with the wicked bitch’s nature by repainting the character in sympathetic hues and refashioning her as some form of anti-hero is a plain ol’ fashioned bad idea- Disney had a massive budget in place, secured a naturally gifted actress with presence and then promptly sucked all the fun out of the project by neutering her role.
Why not just provide a live-action remake, with Jolie having the time of her life in taking full advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to refresh (and revamp) one of cinema’s more memorable female villains? It’s a major fumble that apparently, as evidenced by the film’s subsequent Box Office success, is escaping the clueless audiences outright. This push for kinder, gentler Hollywood villains makes my balls itch.
All things considered, and perhaps by default, Jolie is far and away the best aspect of this feature- there’s admittedly a substantial amount of presence and charisma on display, the elements one would expect from a certified movie star. Just imagine if she would have been unleashed...
A wildly miscast Sharlto Copley supplies the villainous, power-mad “King Stefan”- after storming onto the scene with 2009's "District 9", the South African actor is slowly, but surely canceling himself out with a slew of poor decisions.
Brenton Thwaites’ “Prince Phillip” is an utterly pointless role with literally nothing to offer to the story- coupled with Copley’s addled King, most would surely catch on to the pro-feminist, male-bashing agenda…
English actor Sam Riley (Byzantium) provides Maleficent’s personal lackey and “eyes in the sky”, “Diaval”- I almost thought the filmmakers would shoe-horn him into a love interest role, though it never came to fruition. Riley’s solid here, though is given little to do other than be transmorphed into various CGI-rendered creatures. I’ve never seen a wolf with a beak before…
Expect a memorable cameo featuring 5-year-old Vivienne Jolie-Pitt that will likely, albeit briefly, warm the heart.
The effects work regarding the various creatures in Maleficent’s kingdom are pretty damned sharp, though they all appear to be generic offshoots of beings used in prior fantasy films and are void of any kind of character development or personality.
A few glaring plot holes also work to undermine this particular experience. A few spoilerific points to consider:
1. Why would King Stefan, desperate to protect his daughter from Maleficent’s wrath, entrust three clearly imbecilic and completely incompetent fairies with raising and protecting her… for SIXTEEN YEARS? Furthermore, don’t these three magically gifted creatures hail from Maleficent’s realm?
2. What happened to Princess Aurora’s mother during the vast majority of those many years apart? It’s understood she passes away at some point, though there’s very little of the Queen to speak of in the film at all- and she seemed like such a loving sort…
3. Aiming to alter the fate of a decidedly important character, our powerful fairy turns Diaval into a feathery, pitch-black steed and gallops across the horizon with little time to spare. She is unable to make her deadline on horseback and can only watch helplessly as she realizes she’s only a few moments too late. Later in the film, surrounded by armed guards and in a particular fix, she casts a spell which transforms Diaval into a winged, fire-breathing Dragon… boy, that winged beast sure could have come in handy earlier in the film when time and speed was of the essence… C’Mon, Man!
4. The curse upon Aurora stipulates that she will be pricked by the spindle of a spinning wheel one day after her sixteenth birthday and fall into a deathlike sleep- so, understandably, King Stefan calls for all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned/destroyed. Later in our story, Aurora returns (prematurely) home to find an uncaring King of a father who immediately calls for her to be locked away in a room in the castle… which just so happens to be a corridor away from a chamber holding all of the kingdom’s slightly charred (hardly destroyed) spinning wheels… WTF!?!?
I could go on and on, but what’s the point? Needless to say, it’s a poorly written affair.
James Newton Howard’s original score is better than average, while Lana Del Rey supplies a haunting cover of “Once Upon A Dream” that plays during the film’s closing credits.
The biggest surprise in Maleficent is to find Disney (in its current form) hell-bent on crapping all over 1959’s “Sleeping Beauty”, with the film’s bookending voice-over narration insisting that the beloved animated classic is wholly irrelevant and should be forgotten. I shit you not.
Although it was an admittedly flawed fantasy excursion, I feel that 2011’s “Snow White and The Huntsman” was a superior film in a similar vein- at least it had Chris Hemsworth kicking ass and Charlize Theron giving it a go as a cold-hearted, bloodthirsty sort.
This is kid's stuff, through and through, but by no means an enduring classic- cautiously manufactured and expertly marketed, Maleficent is designed primarily to separate parents from their money while effectively trashing it's source material.
Walt’s turning over in his grave…
5.0 out of 10
Director: Robert Stromberg
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley Imelda Staunton, Lesley Mannville, Juno Temple, Brenton Thwaites, Kenneth Cranham and Isobelle Molloy
Run-Time: 97 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG for sequences of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images
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