Maleficent (2014) - Review

I don't like the original Sleeping Beauty.  It's technically a "classic" I guess, but I don't enjoy it at all, much like a lot of supposed classic Disney films like Dumbo and Pinocchio.  Those movies are freaking terrifying!  I mean seriously, elephants on parade?  Donkey slaves?  Yeah, that won't scar kids for life or anything.

But I digress.

I find Sleeping Beauty to be a bit too simplistic;  evil queen + young princess + curse + charming prince = cliche.  Even back then these things were already common tropes from traditional fairy tales.  On top of that, the characters are all completely flat and boring; it's just kind of a dull movie in which nothing really stands out.

"Eh, what are ya gonna do?"

And sadly, the reimagining simply titled Maleficent, after the main villain of Sleeping Beauty, follows in the same footsteps.  While it keeps the same basic story, the movie tries to add depth to the title character, and pretty much none of it works.  The first half hour is an extended "Anikan becomes Vader" sequence which, like the aforementioned, feels entirely rushed and inconsequential.  We know she's evil, so if you're not going to provide an interesting explanation as to why (they don't), then why bother at all?

The rest of the movie more or less follows Sleeping Beauty's plot, with extra Maleficent scenes added in and a completely different third act that attempts to humanize Maleficent a bit too much.  You can't make her super evil and then turn her back to super good at the end.  None of it feels natural in the slightest.  And I know I'm talking about a Disney movie, but they've done face/heel and heel/face transitions before and had it work.  Angelina Jolie isn't terrible in the role, but at the same time, she has very, VERY little to work with.

If there's one big positive to the film, it's that the visuals are simply gorgeous to watch.  It's just too bad that the rest of the film kind of just sits there while the visuals try to pick up the slack.  Unfortunately it doesn't really work and ends up just being an empty movie.  The best part of the whole film is that it's incredibly short and doesn't feel too long either.  But as for quality, I'd rather be sleeping than watch the movie again.  Skip the thumb prick, though.