Movie Review: Maleficent

Maleficent (2014)

 A vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land. Short synopsis of Maleficent taken from IMDb.com

As is so very often the case, I am of two minds on Maleficent.  On the one hand...  well, do I have to say it?  Why did Disney have to go and take a really wickedly evil villain and make her a "misunderstood soul"?  Take the portrayal of Maleficent in the original 1950s Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.  That line at the end; her last speaking line other than "ouwwwwwww!!!" (her real final line being a death scream, after ole' princey-butt throws his sword into her guts and she dragon-flops to her death)  They go like this: "Now you shall deal with me, oh prince.  And all the powers of hell!"  There is no ambiguity in that.  This chic is all business.  And her business is evil.

But no, Disney, in their infinite wisdom, has given us a villain with a conscience.  This is annoying to me on one level, as I have tried to convey.  But on another level, I must admit that the film's overall idea is not a bad one, and the execution is pretty good.  Maleficent as a tragi-hero is semi-believable.  Especially the backstory part.  But I don't wish to spoil that, for those who may have not seen this and are deciding based on what I write (all two of you, that is).  Let's just say that Maleficent's fall into darkness is due to a form of violation sure to strike a particular note with older viewers who see the deeper nuances of this kiddy movie.

See, that's what I'm talking about!

As for the acting, Angelina Jolie does the conflicted evil one to the hilt.  Personally, I think she'd have made the role even better if it did follow the traditional path.  She seems so well suited for the part of the dark sorceress queen.  But again, Disney has decided to grace us with a character that is "not all bad."  Yes, I know that I am beating a dead horse here, but that still irks me.  But then, I like my villains less than ambiguous.  It is a sign of times gone by though.  Just like rooting for Darth Vader to get beaten by Luke Skywalker, I suppose.

The other actors in the film were fair, if not spectacular.  But let's face it: this is a movie about the titular character, and without a strong performance there, the movie falls flat.  It didn't do that, in my opinion, even if I am obviously not a fan of the re-working of the plot to make everybody into understandable "human" characters.  And I thought what's-her-bucket Fanning could have been a bit more believable, but then it was just a two-dimensional role.  King Stephen was pretty good, but I thought they didn't give him much to work with at the end.  Like the director said: "OK, you are crazy.  Now... go!"  Yeah, right.

The role of the crow character I didn't like much either.  Why do we need to anamorphize him?  I know CGI is still fake enough looking, despite the many wonderful advances made, but can't people relate to a creature that is not in the shape of a human being?  People relate very well to Jim Hensen's various creatures and they look fake as all get out.  So a crow that has a personality?  Not too much of a stretch.  And it would have gone farther for me to see that Maleficent was really ALONE.  That would have been more stinging and given me more sympathy for her. 

Eleanor Audley provided the voice for the 1959 film version of Maleficent -  err, Sleeping Beauty, I mean.  She was also the voice of the evil stepmother in Cinderella, so she does wicked female villain real well. / Source: pinterest.com

I also found the idea of the three fairies being air-heads to be a bit annoying too, though I can see the fractured fairy tale aspect here.  It seems washed over to me.  Like we are throwing a gloss coat on the tale to make a character - who is fundamentally best when she is a villain - into an approachable sort.  Here's a hint: people relate to villains.  That's why we like a good one.  When a bad guy does something really bad, we secretly root for them because we know, deep down, if we were in their shoes, we'd have wanted to do something that bad too.  Because it is your job, as the bad guy.  But again, it is a world of misunderstood and fallen folks, mere ranges of gray that we live in.  I thought that was the point of fantasy.  To see things in black and white, since enough of life is gray as it is.  But that's just me ranting.

Final word: Maleficent was worth seeing, and I still agree even considering the price I paid for a rare trip to the drive-in with my family.  It has some darker materials and may not be suitable for younger children. My own daughter got a little creeped out in places.  And despite my protestations, I don't think it was bad.  Just not as satisfying as I would have liked, is all.  For whatever that is worth.

The parting comment:

Like I'm saying!  They made the three faeries into total twits!