I first heard rumours that Angelina Jolie was going to play Maleficent in a film by the same name a few years ago now and the long wait was agonising, being such a big fan of both hers and Disney alike. As roles started to be confirmed and images and shots started to surface, I was almost beside myself with excitement that one of the best Disney villains was going to be played by what seemed like the perfect person to play her.
With a similar idea to the "the villain's not really that bad" premise of Broadway musical, Wicked, Maleficent unveils the previously untold story of the dark fairy who seemingly put a curse on an innocent baby for no reason. Making you realise that her actions, despite coming from an evil place can be understood. And that, someone hurt her so deeply that she actually became this way rather than was born with such a wicked heart.
Since she was a young and happy fairy, Maleficent has resided in The Moors, a forest haven where magical creatures can live peacefully amongst one another being governed by neither King nor Queen. Adjacent to this land is a human town overlooked by a greedy ruler who wants nothing more than to takeover Maleficent's home and occupy it's wonders. One day, a poor boy from the town finds his way into The Moors and becomes an unlikely friend and eventually lover, of Maleficent's as she hopes that this bond will bring peace between the two lands.
But the years pass and as her friend grows distant, Maleficent realises the selfishness of man and starts to have little compassion for her human neighbours. During a violent attempt at invasion, the King is wounded as Maleficent rises as The Moors' fierce protector, leading him to promise that the man who successfully brings the fairy down will be the next King. But it just so happens that the one listening the hardest was the boy (now a man), that Maleficent held so dear as a child and betraying her in the worst way she could imagine, he becomes King Stefan.
But Stefan should have killed Maleficent when he had the chance as she's one mad fairy with an undying grudge and that's pretty much where the original story of Sleeping Beauty picked up from, so I won't bore you with the retelling of that part. What this film shows us differently though, is how Maleficent came to regret her act of vengeance upon the King's daughter and how Aurora bonded with the dark fairy also.
On reflection, with the film being rated a PG, I don't know why I was expecting something dark but that it is what I went in anticipating. What I actually got was Jolie exuding glimpses of that terrifying side of the evil fairy but most of the time being, dare I say it, quite nice?!
I guess I was assuming it would be closer to the remake of another fellow Disney classic, 2012's Snow White & The Huntsman which managed to mix those childhood fables with grown-up dialogue and violence quite well. Certificated as a 12, SNATH was a mixed-audience type of film whereas Maleficent is very much aimed at kids.
Children will no doubt enjoy this movie; they may even be a little scared by it, but as an older viewer I am beginning to tire of the "everyone is good deep down" mantra. Some people aren't; it's as simple as that and instead of glossing things over for younger audiences, perhaps it would make for an refreshingly interesting albeit controversial movie if the baddie in it was in fact just that; bad.
What made Maleficent so scary in the 1959 original is that she wasn't phased by her evilness and that she didn't appear to possess any motives for her actions against the King and his daughter. It seemed she was purely doing it for her own amusement and that made her truly frightening. With that element now eradicated, can she be considered as sinister as she once was? Probably not, and that's a shame.
Despite all my negatives about the film, it is not a bad movie in the slightest. Visually, it's stunning and even though the need to see it in 3D is arguable, the need to see it on a big screen is obvious. All of the CGI is completely immersive especially the magical Moors and the gothic, extravagant costuming of Maleficent in particular is beautifully cinematic.
The special effects are not the only praise that this movie deserves, the story is undeniably a solid one (even if it is fairly short and sweet). It's glaringly obvious that whilst not being exactly what I wanted to come out of this film, the plot seems to be told with genuine affection and respect towards one of the most iconic villains in fairytale history, leaving no stone unturned with her tale and tying up every single loose end that wasn't necessarily explored in the 50's cartoon.
Angelina's performance, whilst never really doubted, was unsurprisingly the best part of the film as she encapsulates not only the sarcastic, bitter side of Maleficent but the unexpected motherly side of her as well. It's evident in the script however, that the whole film's focus was Jolie, as secondary characters (even with valiant efforts from Sam Riley as raven, Diaval and Elysium's Sharlto Copley as King Stefan) come across as undeveloped, two-dimensional clichés.
Don't go into the cinemas expecting this film to be part of the dark reboot trend that has become so popular in the last few years, but rather regard it as an extension of the original explaining the left-out details and you are in for a treat.
If I had gone into this one knowing exactly what I was going to get, then this undoubtedly would have got a much higher rating. Essentially, there isn't anything wrong with it; it contextualises Maleficent's motives and actions against Princess Aurora and her family perfectly, whilst also putting clever reason behind seemingly small things such as why she has a pet raven and uses a cane.
As the trailer suggests Angelina Jolie IS Maleficent and the rest of the cast do well alongside her! It makes a change from the typical "Prince-saves-the-damsel" fairytale trope and puts a whole new spin on the concept of true love but for me personally, if they had taken such a dark and interesting character and made her even more dark and interesting then it would have made for a much more entertaining movie. Sorry Disney.
No comments:
Post a Comment