MALEFICENT

Maleficent

Grade: B

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley, with Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville and Juno Temple as the pixies and Brenton Thwaites as Prince Phillip

Premise: A fairy who once coexisted peacefully with humans swears vengeance on them after she’s wronged by a treacherous young man.

Rated PG (contains scary moments and some intense action)

“Now you shall deal with me, oh Prince, and ALL THE POWERS OF HELL!!” With that memorable oath—and her subsequent transformation into a dragon—Maleficent, the witch antagonist of Disney’s 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty, immediately entered the ranks of all-time great movie villains, where she remains today. As sinisterly-exciting as that character was, though, I doubt anyone’s been crying out for her to get her own live-action spinoff movie fifty-five years later. But with big-budget fairy-tale re-tellings all the rage the past few years (we’ve already gotten two new Snow White movies, plus Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful and Jack the Giant Slayer), we now have Maleficent, a glossy new flick starring Angelina Jolie as the Mistress of All Evil.

Rated PG and filled with giggles, gasps and cutesy CGI versions of critters like fairies and trolls, Maleficent was probably made for people less than half my age, but dang it, I liked it. Anyone devoted to the 1959 Beauty will have fit after fit due to copious changes in the main story and character details, but Jolie’s in fine form as the titular character, Elle Fanning makes an utterly charming Aurora, and, after consistently moodier fare like Godzilla, X-Men and The Amazing Spiderman, it’s nice to see a movie where everything turns out okay.

Plot

Without parents from a young age, Maleficent (played as girl by Isobelle Molloy) still had a happy childhood. With a bright smile, magic powers and a set of large, beautiful wings, she was one of the most luminous and powerful fairies. Alongside other magical creatures like pixies, trolls and goblins, she lived in the Moors, a gorgeous oasis in the middle of a large rural kingdom. Within sight of the Moors’ borders is a city filled with regular, non-magical humans, who, it has been said, hate all magic creatures. So Maleficent is at first alarmed and suspicious when a human boy stumbles out of the bushes one day. The boy, Stefan (Michael Higgins), is a kind but lonely sort, and they immediately strike up a friendship. In fact, they fall in love as the years pass.

But, like most glory-seeking men, Stefan (played as an adult by Sharlto Copley) has always been seduced by the sight of the huge nearby castle, and the lure of luxury and wealth has tugged at his heart and mind. First serving merely as an aide to the old, sitting king, he’s offered the throne after he brings the son-less king an amazing gift of tribute. Once he’s crowned, he turns his back on Maleficent (Jolie) for good. Hurt and lonely once again, Maleficent, now aided by a shape-shifting ally (Sam Riley), learns of the birth of the king’s daughter, Aurora, and, along with all the kingdom’s nobles, visits her, and then decides to bestow upon her a certain “gift”. Hurt and shocked, Stefan sends his daughter away, to be raised in safety and seclusion by three pixies (Leslie Manville, Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple), until after her sixteenth birthday, when a certain curse is said to take effect. As Stefan hides out in his castle and swears vengeance, Maleficent spends her days watching the growing Aurora (played at fifteen by Elle Fanning), and waiting for the day when she can strike back, hard, against Stefan’s heart.

What Works?

It’s sometimes hard to remember because she’s always on the red carpet and in the tabloids, but Angelina Jolie hasn’t actually made that many notable movies. By my count, she’s only made three truly notable ones (1999’s Girl, Interrupted won her a Supporting Actress Oscar, 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider made her a bonafide sex symbol, and 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith brought her into the life of one Brad Pitt). Yet everyone still is seemingly attuned to her every movement and action because of the fame her personal life has brought her. Maleficent doesn’t require a huge, heavily-dramatic performance from her, but she makes palpable her pain at Stefan’s abandonment and betrayal, and she provides teasing hints of humor amidst her character’s darkness and sadness. She also brings impressive, honest feeling to a key moment where she admits her care for Aurora, even though it is Aurora she swore to target with her curse.

It’s impossible not to care for Aurora, though, when she’s played by Elle Fanning. Actress Dakota Fanning’s little sister, Elle is absolutely adorable—I’m pretty sure the phrase ‘pretty little ray of sunshine’ was made up for her. She’s not required to act much, but I have to believe audiences would watch her do anything. Her Prince Phillip—actor Brenton Thwaites—looks like a stand-in for One Direction and doesn’t get to join her in a rendition of “I Walked With You Once Upon A Dream” (lame), but he’s endearing enough that you wish the two of them had more time together in this movie. And as Stefan, Sharlto Copley (best known as the hit man who got his face blown off and then fused back together in last summer’s Elysium) is well-cast: he’s way too much of a wild-man to play a regular old, noble king, but he’s perfect for the antagonistic slant the character’s given.

Again, not much acting is required, but Maleficent delivers the goods where it really needs to. The scenery and all the magical creatures look glorious, and there are enough awesome moments as the winged Maleficent soars above the clouds, and swoops under waterfalls and past cliffs, to make you wonder how good this movie is in 3-D.

What Doesn’t Work?

Maleficent is one of those rare movies that would actually benefit from being longer, as the movie in its current tidy 97-minute state has a few plot holes that could have been filled in with a few small details. The characters of Aurora’s protective pixies are also completely worthless here; clumsy, blithering idiots, they do less to sensibly raise our Sleeping Beauty than Maleficent does (it’s a little sad to see the likes of Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple wasted in these roles).

Content

This is actually a pretty intense PG, with one large-scale battle scene between men with swords and spears and goblins and tree monsters, plus a late battle royale at the castle as Maleficent tries to get her revenge. There’s not much blood, of course, but parents might find their youngest kids a little unnerved.

Bottom Line

It butchers the story as we all know it as kids—from the 1959 Sleeping Beauty—but Maleficent, made with the right dashes of action, whimsy and heart, is actually pretty endearing. I’d have to say this might be the best of the recent fairy tale reboots.

Maleficent (2014)

Directed by Robert Stromberg

Based on the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, and the original “Sleeping Beauty” stories by Charles Perrault and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Rated PG

Length: 97 minutes