benefit from some slow-paced indulgence. Or at least,
better instincts for where to make cuts. For example, an
expensive-looking yet utterly inconsequential battle
sequence plopped into the middle of the pic sees
Maleficent neutralize a squadron of nameless soldiers
with neither motivation nor consequences, but the scenes
in which she bonds with the 16-year-old Aurora (Elle
Fanning) – ostensibly the most important, emotionally
weighty relationship in the film – feel rough and rushed.
While Fanning’s Aurora is relegated to a supporting role
(and Brenton Thwaites’ Prince Phillip a glorified cameo)
Jolie is perfectly cast in the lead, and does excellent work
As for the actual effects themselves, the
level of craft on display here is exquisite.
Of the four fractured fairy tales produced by Joe Roth
(“Oz the Great and Powerful,” “Alice in Wonderland,”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”), “Maleficent” is the
one that hews closest to its source material, and it’s not
always clear whether this helps or hinders. Directed by
first-time helmer Robert Stromberg from a script credited
to “Beauty and the Beast” scribe Linda Woolverton, the
film has a clever enough big-picture take on the “Sleeping
Beauty” tale, yet it sputters and snags as it tries construct
a coherent emotional arc, and its reference points from
the 1959 animated original feel more dutiful than inspired.
Opening with storybook-themed voiceover narration,
“Maleficent” sketches a realm of two rival kingdoms –
not Stefan’s and Hubert’s, but rather the world of humans
and the outlying moors, which are home to fairies, trolls
and imposing wickermen. Darting around the moors like
a sort of saucer-eyed Tinkerbell is the winged young fairy
Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy), who strikes up an unlikely
friendship, and later romance, with a trespassing human
farmhand named Stefan (Michael Higgins).
Alas, their love is not to be, as a poorly explained war
breaks out between the two kingdoms years later, and
the adult Stefan (Sharlto Copley) betrays Maleficent
(Jolie) by drugging her and cutting off her wings, all in the
name of a job promotion. (To be fair, going from farmboy
to king is one hell of a jump up the employment ladder.)
credit: Movie HD Wallpapers.com
Now a woman scorned and shorn, Maleficent fashions a
magical staff from a twig, dons a black helmet, and takes
memorable revenge on Stefan’s infant daughter, Aurora.
Granted the proper grace notes and breathing room,
this sequence of events could have provided more than
enough material for a dark stand-alone prequel – indeed, it took George Lucas three full features to complete
a very similar character arc for Anakin Skywalker. However, “Maleficent” is only just now getting started, and
the next two-thirds of the film see our erstwhile antihero hiding in the bushes outside Aurora’s cabin in the
woods, serving as an unlikely “fairy godmother” and
rethinking her curse, while Aurora’s bumbling guardians
(Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple) prove
entirely incompetent babysitters.
Already a double Oscar winner for his work as an art
director, Stromberg knows how to visualize a scene
and exactly where to place the camera, but storytelling
requires different muscles, and the film often lurches
where it ought to flow, rarely latching onto the proper
rhythm. It isn’t until roughly halfway through the film,
for example, that Maleficent cracks her first joke, which
is so out of character that it initially sounds like a blooper.
While the film avoids the two-hour-plus bloat of “Oz”
and “The Huntsman,” this is a story that would actually
despite substantial physical constraints. She spends the
entire film wearing a prosthetic nose, cheeks, teeth and
ears, with moon-sized contact lenses and a bulky set of
horns atop her head. (Master makeup magician Rick Baker
is in stellar form here.) Her movements are often strictly
dictated by how best to frame her silhouette. She has few
lines that aren’t delivered as monologue, and her most
frequent co-stars are digitally rendered creatures. That she
manages to command the screen as well as she does in
spite of all this is rather remarkable.
It’s also a performance that begs for flourishes of high
camp that the film rarely allows. When Jolie is let loose
to really bare her fangs, such as her nearly word-for-word
re-creation of Maleficent’s first scene from the Disney
original, she strips the paint from the walls. (Her primary
deviation from the script here offers a peek at the kind
of unhinged delight this story could have been in braver
hands, as she forces Stefan to his knees and hisses, “I like
you begging; do it again!” like a proper Reeperbahn
dominatrix.) Yet one is much more likely to see her wordlessly
glowering from behind trees and palace walls, as though
just another finely crafted visual effect.
As for the actual effects themselves, the level of craft on
display here is exquisite. From the swooping shots around
Stefan’s castle to the lava-lamp-like floral arrangements
that dot Maleficent’s lair, the film’s armies of art directors,
costumers and effects technicians aim for the spectacular
with every shot, and nail it with impressive consistency.
Musically, James Newton Howard’s sweeping score locates
a nice sweet spot somewhere between Erich Korngold
and Danny Elfman, and Lana Del Rey’s gothy take on the
“Sleeping Beauty” showstopper “Once Upon a Dream”
makes for a fitting closer.
Film Review: ‘Maleficent’
Reviewed at Arclight Cinemas, Sherman Oaks, May 22,
2014. MPAA rating: PG. Running time: 97 MIN.
Production
A Walt Disney Motion Pictures release and presentation of
a Roth Films production. Produced by Joe Roth. Executive producers, Angelina Jolie, Michael Vieira, Don Hahn,
Palak Patel, Matt Smith, Sarah Bradshaw.
Crew
Directed by Robert Stromberg. Screenplay, Linda Woolverton, based on Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” and “La
Belle au bois dormant” by Charles Perrault. Camera
(color, 3D), Dean Semler; editors, Chris Lebenzon, Richard Pearson; music, James Newton Howard; production
designers, Gary Freeman, Dylan Cole; costume designer,
Anna B. Sheppard; supervising art director, Frank Walsh;
sound, Chris Munro; supervising sound editors, Frank
Eulner, Tim Nielsen; re-recording mixers, Gary A. Rizzo,
David Parker; stereographer, Layne Friedman; senior
visual effects supervisor, Carey Villegas; visual effects
producer, Barrie Hemsley; assistant director, Richard
Whelan; second unit camera, Fraser Taggart; casting,
Lucy Bevan.
With
Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Brenton
Thwaites, Isobelle Molloy, Michael Higgins, Vivienne
Jolie-Pitt, Eleanor Worthington-Cox. Narrated by Janet
McTeer