Maleficent
Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning
Directed by Robert Stromberg
Why can’t villains just be bad anymore? Disney’s Maleficent continues the latest trend (blame Wicked) of reworking an antagonist’s backstory in order to give us a needlessly complex origin that tries to convey the baddie may be good after all.
Angelina Jolie dons the curled horns in the live action reimagining of the studio’s classic Sleeping Beauty with less focus on Princess Aurora (Fanning) and more time spent on the wicked fairy’s innocent roots.
Following a brutal betrayal by the man who would be king (Sharlto Copley), Maleficent puts a sleeping curse on his daughter and bides her time until the girl turns 16; this is where the plot gets murky and often grinds to a complete halt.
Character motivations become increasingly unclear as Jolie even goes so far as to save the child on numerous occasions after her trio of bumbling pixie guardians continually drop the babysitting ball.
The film is awash in visual effects, containing such an abundance of CGI it’s often hard to distinguish between real life and animation. Much of the mythical world’s artificial landscape and inhabitants are reminiscent of Avatar mixed with Oz the Great and Powerful. So much of Maleficent’s execution conjures up images of Snow White and the Huntsman, with the latter providing more memorable imagery and production design.
It all adds up to a familiar outing and, although Jolie casts an imposing figure and does her share of scenery chewing, the story never has the urgency needed to justify such a retelling.
