Maleficent(2014)

CatyAlexandre

5/10

Well, I must say that I had low expectations for this one but I was curious to go check it anyway. After all it turned out to be a surprise, better than I expected but still not good enough to be a great film. Maleficent explores the other side of the powerful and evil witch of Sleeping Beauty. It tries to show us what's behind the old story we already know, which was cool because in Sleeping Beauty we don't see that, but unfortunately this film does it very poorly and in my opinion the character needed more development. Also the alterations in the story may not have been the best decision. Maleficent it's a character that everyone knows and what makes her so iconic in the Disney world is her evilness! Showing the soft and human side of her was a bit corny and I was already predicting that turn at the end of the story. Visually, some parts were gorgeous to look at specially Moors, Maleficent's magical kingdom but other parts were terrible! Some scenes looked like a video game. Angelina Jolie's performance is without any doubt the best thing of the film! She is the perfect Maleficent! I think she was great and she was always able to transmit the right emotions to the audience no matter what. Elle Fanning was a little bit annoying as Aurora but I think it wasn't her fault since she couldn't do much with the character, after all the film is all about Maleficent. Sharlto Copley was a very weird king, I actually enjoyed to see him play a villain in Elysium last year but in this when it was supposed to see more intensity from him, he almost made me laugh. Overall, Maleficent is not terrible but is far from being great too. I can't deny that it was enjoyable to see but it does not show the faithful version that the original Disney tale tells. Maybe children will like this version more, who knows!

Kamurai

0/10

Good watch, would watch again, and can recommend. I'm not a big Angelina Jolie ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider") fan, but she definitely nailed the part, and I felt for her when those things happened, so I'm definitely not going to say she's not a good actor. Elle Fanning ("The Great") is great, mostly an annoyingly happy little thing while she's awake, alongside wonderful supporting cast and gorgeous (and sometimes goofy) CG animated creatures. Disney definitely poured money into this to make it look great. They also spent quite the effort to revitalize the story. After rewatching "Sleeping Beauty" and some other variations (I did fail to reread the original story), I am definitely a fan of the direction they took. The original story was just so weak and empty, and this does one of my favorite things and humanizes a villain into an adversery into of an evil monster. I'm not a fan of how or why the 3 faeries get involved, but it makes some sense. And I'm very happy with how they handled the resolution of the curse. They created this awesome world which adds to the movie in a very special way.

BiGuy

0/10

_TL:DR An enchanting retelling of a classic story which really holds it's own with the changes in it's story-line. If you love magical worlds, definitely give this one a watch! (7/10 on the Dragon-Scale for including two very badass dragons!)_ I truly appreciate the modern trend of humanizing the "villains" in a story, real life is rarely as simple as: 'This person is just evil.' and it allows for so much more depth and emotional investment in both protagonists and antagonists. Hats off to the visual effects team for making the Moors feel truly enchanted, with many magical critters and beautifully strange fauna all pining for your attention. Everything feels like it has it's own personality through their movement and design, making the whole movie a feast for the eyes. (And I of-course cannot forget the raven-like aspects in all of Diaval's forms. Raven dragon? Yes please!) As for the story, it takes great inspiration from the original but brings it's own charms to the table. Opting to take the 'Parental Love' definition of true love, rather than Romantic Love. Which is a decision I personally can get behind. (Even _if_ Maleficent is not Aurora's birth-mother, she has certainly been more of a mother to her than her biological mother. Which is another great message to send!) Lastly, what did I get out of the story? When we're young, we tend to be young, naïve and have an optimistic colorful view of the world. And something will inevitably happen to change our views and jade us. (Making our outlook darker and thornier. _Wink wink nudge nudge._) This new outlook will usually stay for years, if not for life, but sometimes we find something or someone who revives (part of) the child we all have inside of us that we wish dearly to protect. (The Moors going from colorful to dark and back to colorful again.) And I can certainly find myself in that.

Andre Gonzales

0/10

Good movie seeing how maleficent became maleficent. Pretty bogus what they did to her. Now she fights to get her wings back.

CinemaSerf

0/10

Perrault's "Sleeping Beauty" is easily my favourite Walt Disney adaptation and this film takes up on by far the best character from that delightful animation - the wicked witch "Maleficent". It tells us how this true epitome of wickedness was actually quite a good-natured elf until an evil king duped her and stole her wings. Now that had to hurt - not to mention get her a touch irked, so she set out on a vengeful existence culminating in a curse on the young Princess "Aurora". As per the novel, the three good fairies take the princess to hide in the forest but the crafty witch tracks them down almost immediately and has some fun manipulating them all as the baby grows to womanhood, at which point this story takes an unexpected turn (from the book too!). The cast are really good in this: Angelina Jolie - in the title role - could have been a bit more menacing, but she is still on good form, as is Sam Riley as her rather kindly sidekick "Diaval" whom she changes into whatever she needs to do her bidding. Elle Fanning is just a little bit too "nice" (for me, anyway) as "Aurora" and Sharlto Copley as the rapidly losing the plot "King Stefan" just a bit too hammy but cutie Brenton Thwaites does a half decent English accent as Prince "Philip" and the three fairies inject some light-hearted comedy into the proceedings too. The whole thing, though just a wee bit cheesy, is still a really well produced watch with some superb visual effects. Though it looks great, I didn't like the ending, much - but then I always wanted "Darth Vader" to win, too...