Released: 2014
Directed by: Robert Stromberg
Cast:
Angelina Jolie: Maleficent
Elle Fanning: Aurora
Sharlto Copley: Stefan
In 1959, Walt Disney Studios gave us Sleeping Beauty, a timeless fairy tale that featured amazing artwork and animation, as well as great music and story. But in grand Disney fashion, the one truly memorable thing about the film was its villain: Maleficent. The strange thing about Disney villains, is that they tend to be very compelling in many ways. With villains such as Jaffar from Aladdin, The Lion King’s Scar, and Beauty And The Beast’s Gaston, most of Disney’s villains are extraordinarily memorable. It can be said that a Disney picture can be measured by how strong its villain is. Maleficent, bar none, is the most iconic and memorable villain in Disney’s catalog. This is a monster of a character who’s more than willing to curse an innocent child for one reason or another. In Sleeping Beauty, she does it just for the hell of it. She’s truly evil. Not much is really known about her motivations or why she is the way she is, but when she’s on screen, she steals the show. I guess it’s not entirely surprising that Disney would try to make a film specifically about Maleficent, given that Disney has released updated movies about Alice In Wonderland and Snow White.
Maleficent begins in a far away land that sees two different kingdoms trying to co-exist. One kingdom is ruled by humans and a king, and the other is ruled by all manners of creatures, including fairies, trolls and animals. One of these beings, a young Maleficent(Isobelle Molloy, Angelina Jolie)discovers a young human, Stefan(Jackson Brews, Sharlto Copley). A friendship brews between the two, but Stefan leaves without any explanation. Years later, King Henry(Kenneth Cranham)has declared war on the Moors. Maleficent has taken on the role of protector of her domain and defeats Henry in open battle. Henry then declares the anyone who can kill Maleficent will claim the throne upon Henry’s death. In comes Stefan, having befriended Maleficent years earlier, is able to win her trust. Unfortunately, he sees an opportunity to take the throne for himself, so he steals Maleficent’s wings. At this point, the story becomes more familiar as it really brings in the elements from the original Sleeping Beauty, which makes sense. Some of the dialogue is lifted straight from the original film. That’s not a bad thing. What sets this movie apart from the original is that it’s told from Maleficent’s perspective, and we see why she went bad. There have been numerous films featuring iconic villains that try to explain why they become evil. The Star Wars prequels are guilty of this and didn’t do a particularly good job of it.
Maleficent is a movie that attempts to explore the back-story of Disney’s infamous villain. We have a character who is pissed off and is willing to do anything to seek retribution. That also includes cursing Aurora(Elle Fanning) to die when she turns 16. Making a movie about a villain is a very tricky business. It can come across as sappy or over-the-top. Maleficent, thankfully, avoids those pitfalls and delivers a very compelling character that we CAN sympathize with. Angelina Jolie’s performance is what really sells the entire movie. She clearly has a great time with the character, especially when she goes into trouble-making mode. It can be pretty funny at times, but Jolie really knocks it out of the park. In the original film, Maleficent was a very elegant and powerful being, voice by the late Eleanor Audley. Angelina Jolie takes the role and makes it her own, by infusing the character with her own grace and beauty. When she dons the black outfit that made the character so intimidating in the first place, it truly evokes memories of Sleeping Beauty. She is definitely a sight to behold. Sharlto Copley plays King Stefan, after betraying Maleficent, begins to go insane. Copley has been on my radar ever since the sci-fi hit, District 9. He’s really good at playing characters that are…unhinged. Unfortunately, the character of Stefan is a scumbag and not really given a shot at redemption. The character really isn’t well-written in that regard, despite Copley’s performance. Also, the character of Prince Phillip is basically a throw-away nod to the original film’s protagonist. Then again, this movie really wasn’t about him.
The one thing that they changed from the original movie, is that they had Maleficent basically watch over Aurora as she’s growing up. Maleficent’s reaction to Aurora is at times very amusing and very touching at others, as she develops a fondness for the child as Aurora grows up. The relationship between the two is one of the reason to watch this movie. It’s extraordinarily compelling and Elle Fanning’s performance as Aurora is fantastic. Instead of being the requisite damsel in distress, Aurora is actually given more room to grow as a character and Fanning’s innocence and curiosity truly shines through. One of the more compelling characters is Diaval(Sam Riley). This is a guy who started out as a crow and was rescued by Maleficent. In return, he serves Maleficent by being her spy, essentially. Yet, he also serves as her conscience. Riley’s performance is low-key, yet effective.
This being a fantasy film, you would expect a great deal of interesting visuals, and Maleficent delivers. It’s spectacular right from the beginning. From Maleficent’s kingdom to the final battle at Stefan’s castle, the film is just brimming with incredible effects and creatures. Yes, it’s all CGI, but in this day and age, that’s really the only way to give a movie like this a real sense of grandeur. From the tree creatures that Maleficent summons to the dragon that she turns Diaval into, the movie is rarely without astounding visuals. It’s quite possibly one of the most visually exciting movies this year. That’s not to say that the movie is perfect. It’s not. For one, while we are given some good detail as to why the titular character goes bad, we really aren’t given more detail into where she came from or who her parents were, and that’s something I would have like to see. As I mentioned above, Stefan is kind of a one-dimensional character that serves as the movie’s antagonist. He’s not really given a reason for why he went crazy. Given the film’s message about the nature of revenge and redemption, I’m actually shocked to see that Stefan wasn’t really given a chance to redeem himself for his crime. Prince Phillip is basically a throw-away character that really didn’t need to be here, despite his importance to the original film. The three fairies that bless Aurora are fairly annoying, so when Maleficent messes with them, it’s pretty funny. Those are about the only real issues I have with Maleficent. Otherwise, it is a fantastic journey and the unique take on Disney’s greatest villain is extremely compelling. This is Angelina Jolie’s movie, pure and simple. She gives it a very surprisingly amount of emotional depth to the character that really helps the audience relate to her. In my honest opinion, Maleficent is the surprise of the year. It’s a spectacular film from beginning to end, that while visually engaging, also maintains an emotional core that resonates throughout the picture. While I don’t think that Maleficent, will overtake the original film, it’s a great companion piece to one of the most extraordinary Disney movies ever made. This one gets a 9/10. I definitely recommend it.