by Joseph Rossi
Disney has an advantage in the entertainment industry. They sit on a massive chest of properties that are prime for the latest cinematic trend, the re-imagining. The films are fine the way they are but money is money and if Disney can squeeze blood from a rock in order to profit, they will do it and do it with such fanfare everyone will want to see it. Does that make the film good? In the case of their new film Maleficent the answer is no.
Visually impressive but emotionally hollow. That best describes the retooling of the mouse houses’ own classic Sleeping Beauty. A fine film on its own, this one strays from the classic tale to center on the villain. Or anti-villain. The film opens with a less then wicked Maleficent living happily in a lush and wonderful enchanted kingdom, flying high on a pair of beautiful wings. Enter a young love interest named Stephan, who on royal orders must cut off her wings. Mind you this is after he breaks her heart so there is an actual concrete reason behind Maleficent turning to evil. The story picks up when Stephan is King and Maleficent puts a curse on his infant daughter Aurora. You remember the famous curse that the child, on her 16th birthday, will fall into a sleep like death at the prick of her finger.
I’ve always enjoyed Angelina Jolie. Missteps along the way, titles like Girl Interrupted, The Changing and A Mighty Heart should be on everyone’s watch list. In this film she is awesome. From sweet to vile, devilish to charming, she covers a vast range of emotions and moods and does it with grace. Always sincere and never hammy, Jolie could’ve made her into a true over the top monster. But she is to good an actress to let that happen. The issue with the film for me is that she never feels like a real threat and that is a screenplay problem. We, as an audience, know the playbook. She’s good, and then she’s bad, then she has a change of heart but the townspeople still hate her, etc. It’s like they spend all this money to make it all seem so lavish and wonderful but skimp on the script.
The film looks fantastic, albeit the over use of the computer effects is sometimes overwhelming. The director, Robert Stromberg, a production designer making his debut, knows a thing or two about effects by having worked on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Sam Raimii’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. This film, like the ones mentioned, are missed opportunities. All craft, no content. For me, this is a miss.
