There’s a saying that a protagonist is only as good as their antagonist. This in some cases remains true, while other times it depends. The original Disney Sleeping Beauty (1959) was a beautifully animated film but was very much seen as recycled material from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) involving a young heroin put into a deep sleep by a jealous witch. To be awakened, only love’s true kiss could unlock the spell. Since then, many fans were impressed with how intriguing the villain of Maleficent was. The design of the character and the color palette used. Naturally, with Disney deciding to relaunch their classic properties in live-action form, they chose to flip the expectations for many by focusing on Maleficent this time instead of Aurora (the sleeping beauty). Did it turn out okay? Sort of.
The story is a soft reboot prequel of the franchise. It tells the story about who Maleficent was before she became the character everyone remembers her for from Sleeping Beauty (1959) and then some. Originally, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) was a kind hearted fairy who enjoyed a magical realm known as the moors. The moors contained other magic creatures that lived in harmony. Unfortunately, they coexisted with humans where King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) wanted to conquer that area, which lead to some bad blood. But time waits for no one as the King was beginning to die. Along comes Stefan (Sharlto Copley), an ambitious man who befriends Maleficent and ends up getting lost in his overall goals and leaves Maleficent in the process. Linda Woolverton, a veteran from Disney’s renaissance era including Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) wrote the script for this film.
What does work in favor of this feature is giving Maleficent her background for context purposes. Conceptually speaking this would be fine if this story led up to the events of Sleeping Beauty (1959), but it does not and goes beyond that changing other things along the way. It’s different yes but what ends up happening is something to be expected in today’s day and age of this kind of relaunch and it’s predictable. It’s a bit disappointing too considering who wrote the script and the history of films they’ve worked on. Acting wise is commendable though. As expected Angelina Jolie as Maleficent certainly fits the role and acts close to the animated version too. Elle Fanning who plays Aurora does a good job too. Sharlto Copley is another good actor who has seen his fair share of films like District 9 (2009) and The A-Team (2010).
There’s also Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple who play the three fairy god mothers to Aurora. Sam Riley plays Maleficent’s bird companion which is a more interesting character than from the original. Lastly Brenton Thwaites plays Prince Phillip who has been in other movies like Oculus (2013) and later Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). From a visual perspective, the film is a mixed bag. The physical set designs look good when shown on screen. The interior of the castle and Stefan’s storage room look very interesting in their setups. The physical props and makeup effects used by the various actors are also good looking such as Maleficent’s horns and the king’s royal garb. But that’s about it when it comes to the good aspects. The CGI used throughout the film though is mostly bland and contains little charm to it.
The wooden guardians and troll like creatures living in the moors are just ugly fake spectacles. The battles between these beings and humans is also fairly uninspired in several ways. Hence why it’s disappointing to say the cinematographer behind this production was Dean Semler. This is the same guy behind The Three Musketeers (1993), Eye See You (2002), We Were Soldiers (2002) and Bruce Almighty (2003). Somehow, Semler couldn’t blend the physical and digital together for a nice look. Director Robert Stromberg should know better too as he started his career in matte paintings! Lastly the music was a decent effort provided by James Newton Howard. Being that Howard has worked on Disney projects before like Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Treasure Planet (2002) and even The Dark Knight (2008), it is no surprise he composed a fairly hefty score to this feature too.
Those looking for only a prequel film to Sleeping Beauty (1959) may not be pleased to see that the story does not end there, but moves forward in its own direction. Visuals are middling at best and overall direction is a bit obvious even though it does provide an interesting background for Maleficent. The acting and music are fine though.
Points Earned -->6:10
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