Maleficent 3D Review

Rated PG (Sequences of Fantasy Action and Violence, including Frightening Images)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 37 Minutes

Cast-

Angelina Jolie-Maleficent

Elle Fanning-Princess Aurora

Sharlto Copley-King Stefan

Sam Riley-Diaval

Imelda Staunton-Knotgrass

Lesley Manville-Flittle

Juno Temple-Thistletwit

Brenton Thwaites-Prince Phillip

Kenneth Cranham-King Henry

Hannah New-Queen Leila

Isobelle Molloy-Young Maleficent

Ella Purnell-Teen Maleficent

Michael Higgins-Young Stefan

Jackson Bews-Teen Stefan

Janet McTeer (voice)-Narrator

Directed by Robert Stromberg

Angelina Jolie is magnetic as the titular Disney villainess in "Maleficent" but the rest of the film fails to live up to her performance.

Note: Screened on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at Regal Union Square Stadium 14.

With its themes of adultery, murder, rape, and human cannibalism, the pre-Brothers Grimm version of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale would have terrified even Maleficent herself. The first animated film to be shot in Super Technirama 70 widescreen and the last to be inked by hand before the xerography process took over, Walt Disney's big-screen adaptation of the classic fairy tale—released in 1959—took much of its inspiration from Little Briar Rose, the Brothers Grimm variant that was first recorded in their 1812 collection of folk tales titled Kinder - und Hausmärchen or Children's and Household Tales. However, the 'original story' of Sleeping Beauty vastly differs from the one that is universally known today and contains many plot details that would be considered shocking to most adults. Given that fairy tales used to be handed down orally from generation to generation, no single version of Sleeping Beauty can be called 'the original' but the earliest variant to be transcribed was in Giambattista Basile's posthumously published Il Pentamerone from 1634. Titled Sun, Moon, and Talia, it told the story of a beautiful king's daughter named Talia who, as foretold from a horoscope cast by a group of wise men, falls into a deep sleep after a splinter of flax becomes imbedded under her fingernail. Overcome with grief, the king is unable to bring himself to bury his daughter and instead locks her away in a castle that he subsequently abandons forever. A hundred years later, a king who happened to be hunting in the woods nearby comes upon the castle and finds the comatose princess lying inside. Naturally, he is captivated by this 'sleeping beauty' but rather than an enraptured embrace and true love's kiss, he, well…rapes her. Let me repeat that for you: he RAPES Talia while she is still asleep!

The rest of Basile's story finds the still-unconscious Talia giving birth to twins. The newborn babes try to suckle at their mother's breast but one of them is unable to and instead sucks on Talia's finger, the very same finger in which the splinter of flax is imbedded. Revived from her long slumber, Talia names the twins 'Sun' and 'Moon.' Apparently, the person who fathered the children is of no concern to her. Meanwhile, the rapist king reminisces about his time with Talia and goes to see her again. He is delighted to learn he has a new young mistress and two children but his wife doesn't quite share the same enthusiasm. She makes plans to draw Talia and her children out so that the king's cook can kill and serve them to her adulterous husband. However, the cook cannot bring himself to commit such an evil deed, forcing the king's wife to take matters into her own hands. She prepares a boiling cauldron of poisonous snakes and other horrible creatures and readies to throw the children, Talia, and the cook to their demise but the king arrives at the last minute, rescuing everyone and forcing his wife to jump into the cauldron herself. The end and happily ever afters for everyone of course!

Elle Fanning is ethereal as Princess Aurora but the script fails to give her anything substantial to do.

Obviously, Basile's tale would've left audiences young and old traumatized if Disney adapted it verbatim to the big screen so we should be thankful that they went with the more child-friendly version from the Brothers Grimm, which relied heavily on La Belle au Bois Dormant from Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale collection Stories or Fairy Tales from Times Past, with Morals. You probably heard of his work by its more popular subtitle Tales of Mother Goose. The thing to understand here is that fairy tales are constantly being retold and retooled for new audiences. Like the ever-evolving source material that inspired it, we now have another cinematic retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale but this time, it's from the perspective of the infamous villainess Maleficent. Helmed by first-time director Robert Stromberg, the appropriately-titled "Maleficent" offers lush, eye-popping visuals and a deliciously fierce performance from Angelina Jolie but the film ultimately fails to settle on a consistent tone due to the story's obvious (and constant) retooling in the editing room.

Once upon a time (You can't have a fairy tale begin without these four words!), in a faraway land, there were two kingdoms. One was ruled by the ruthless King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) while the other—known as the Moors—was a magical woodland realm home to various creatures, such as fairies. The most powerful fairy of all was…Maleficent. One day, Maleficent encounters a young peasant boy named Stefan. The two quickly become friends and admit to each other that they are orphans. As the years go by, their friendship gradually develops into romance, with Stefan sharing a 'true love's kiss' with Maleficent on her sixteenth birthday. The two lovers however soon drift apart as Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) becomes the defender of the Moors while an adult Stefan (Sharlto Copley), now a servant to King Henry, turns his eye on the throne. After Maleficent and her tree warriors defeat his army in battle, a dying King Henry announces that whoever manages to kill the fairy will be crowned king and marry his daughter Leila. Stefan visits Maleficent under the pretense of a reunion but he instead drugs her. Unable to bring himself to kill her, he decides to sever Maleficent's wings and present them as proof that the deed was done to the king. Stripped of her very identity as a fairy, Maleficent becomes bitter and vengeful. Taking a shape-shifting raven named Diaval (Sam Riley) as her companion and confidant, Maleficent returns to the Moors and crowns herself its 'Evil Queen' while Stefan takes his place on the throne. Upon learning that Stefan's wife Leila (Hannah New) has given birth to a baby girl named Aurora, Maleficent shows up at the royal christening and curses the princess to fall into a sleep-like death by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday. To remind Stefan of what he did to her, the former fairy gives the curse an antidote in the form of a true love's kiss. Paranoid of Maleficent's vengeance, Stefan burns all the spinning wheels in the kingdom and sends his daughter away to live with three pixies—Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), Flittle (Lesley Manville), and Thistletwit (Juno Temple)—for sixteen years in a cottage deep in the woods. Unfortunately, the pixies—disguised as humans—prove to be completely incapable of raising a baby. Maleficent reluctantly takes care of the kind Aurora (Elle Fanning) from afar, leaving her in doubt over her master plan of vengeance.

Dragons, why does it always have to be dragons?

There's a reason why I recounted Giambattista Basile's Sun, Moon, and Talia in great detail and no, it's not to pad out this review. On the surface, Robert Stromberg's "Maleficent" is a mildly feminist revision of the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale but if you look deeper, you'll discover that it is really a rape-and-revenge film. Wait just a minute there! Isn't this a Disney movie?! How could you lump it with the same subgenre as "I Spit on Your Grave"?! Although this is a PG-rated film marketed toward families, seeing Maleficent drugged by Stefan and waking up the next morning with no memory of the night before, it becomes abundantly clear what subtext Stromberg and writer Linda Woolverton was going for as we witness the fairy scream in confused anguish as she realizes her wings—and thus her very identity—has been savagely stripped from her. Almost all rape-and-revenge films follow the same structure, in which someone is physically and emotionally violated and spends the rest of the movie seeking revenge. Despite its fairy tale trappings, that's largely what happens in "Maleficent." However, the main difference is that the titular character comes to realize her thirst for vengeance has endangered someone who was innocent in the first place, namely Princess Aurora. I admire Woolverton's bravery for wanting to grapple with such a serious metaphor but Stromberg, whose primary field is in special effects, just isn't experienced enough as a director to handle it. What "Maleficent" needed was someone who could navigate such tricky thematic material. In fact, it would've been much better if that director was a woman. Given what happened recently in Isla Vista, California and the ongoing #YesAllWomen movement on Twitter, now feels like the perfect time for parents to have an open conversation with their daughters about all the ways the world can destroy a woman. Unfortunately, "Maleficent" asks all the hard questions but seems to have no idea how to explore them, making the film a frustrating watch.

It doesn't help that "Maleficent" bears visible scarring from the editing room. Stromberg was reportedly struggling so much behind-the-scenes that John Lee Hancock—who helmed last year's "Saving Mr. Banks"—was approached by producer Joe Roth to assist the novice director with reshoots, which drove the already-expensive budget upward. Whatever existed of Woolverton's script is just a shell of itself in the finished film as scenes feel stitched together with Janet McTeer's intrusive voiceover narration. I understand that Stromberg wanted to give the picture a storybook quality that harkens back to its fairy tale origins but he relies on McTeer's narration far too much and it robs the supporting characters of any nuance. The tone is problematic as well, with the rape subtext sitting uncomfortably with the "Three Stooges"-like comedy from the pixies watching over Aurora.

Sharlto Copley is woefully miscast as King Stefan.

Single-handedly saving "Maleficent" from complete disaster is Angelina Jolie, who hasn't appeared in front of a camera since 2010's critical-misfire "The Tourist." Delivering a deliciously fierce performance, the iconic "Sleeping Beauty" villainess is a part that Jolie was born to play and she uses her commanding screen presence to lend her character depth when the script offers her none. Even when the film is floundering around her, Jolie remains captivating to watch and I would go so far as to say that her larger-than-life performance is worth the price of admission alone. The rest of the supporting cast fail to make much of an impression but it's not really their fault considering the film's behind-the-scenes troubles. While Elle Fanning has an ethereal presence with her bright smile and upbeat demeanor, the script gives her little to do besides frolicking in the Moors. Sharlto Copley is woefully miscast as King Stefan, with his South African accent undermining his character's menace. Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, and Juno Temple are reduced to creepy CGI creations. Brenton Thwaites pops in so briefly as Prince Phillip that it's easy to forget he's even in the film. The only supporting cast member who delivers a more or less solid performance is Sam Riley but even he is still one-note. Visually, the film does look exquisite and the 3D conversion is quite good. If nothing else, at least the kids will be entertained by all the CG eye-candy.

Released on May 30, 2014, "Maleficent" has received mixed reviews with 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that 'Angelina Jolie's magnetic performance outshines [the film's] dazzling special effects; unfortunately, the movie around them fails to justify all that impressive effort.' However, audiences appear to be enjoying the film quite a bit and it should handily win the weekend with a mighty debut around $65 to $70 million. "Maleficent" is a tricky film to recommend. The disappointing final result obviously bears the scars of a troubled production but its sumptuous visuals and Angelina Jolie's performance of the iconic Disney villainess save the picture from being a complete disaster. Unfortunately, it's just not enough to earn a passing grade.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"Listen well, you all! The princess will indeed grow in grace and beauty. But before the sunset on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and she will fall into a sleep-like death!"