"Maleficent" | MOVIE REVIEW

It's not your usual fairy tale.

I went into the theatre not really knowing what to expect because, in spite of having seen its really awesome trailer, I've been hearing mixed reviews of Maleficent from my friends. Essentially, it's a retelling of an age old story that does provide a lot of perspective and impressive action sequences. It, however, falls flat on its face several times, but rarely ever struggles to pick itself up again.

Everyone's heard the story of Sleeping Beauty and has probably watched the movie once or twice. We all know how it goes. A witch curses a girl to go into an endless sleep after pricking (hehehe) herself on her sixteenth birthday, and the only way that curse can be broken is through true love's kiss, which is where our Prince Charming comes in.

Did I mention that the witch has exotically beautiful cheekbones?

What makes Maleficent different from the original tale is impossible to discuss without giving away any spoilers. To summarize, after being betrayed by her childhood love (who turned out to be an asshole later in life), she curses his daughter, as was mentioned earlier. A lot of emphasis was put on the exposition and makes us understand why exactly Queen Mal was so pissed off. It makes sense, and it provides us with a new perspective to a story we've heard a million times.

While there wasn't anything inherently wrong with the plot itself (which I found to be really nice), it was let down numerous times by poor writing, forced lines, and characters who were either underutilized or completely unnecessary - *coughs* Prince Philip*.

Okay, fine. He was useful for the first twenty-or-so seconds of screentime.

In truth, the acting could've been better and there were some people who seriously needed to be recast. While Angelina Jolie's performance as the cold and heartless Dark Queen of the Fairies got better as the film rolled on, the rest of the cast weren't entirely impressive. Perhaps the least impressive performance in the film was that of Sharlto Copely, who makes just about as good a villain as Orlando Bloom in that God-awful Three Musketeers reboot. While the concept of the movie's villain might've sounded like a good idea on paper, Copely does a terrible job of bringing the said villain to life by coupling terrible writing with an equally terrible voice.

It's difficult to take any villain seriously when he sounds like a goat with a fake Scottish accent.

While Aurora was everything she was said to be (that being pretty and graceful), her character was also let down by writing that was, at times, borderline cringe-worthy. Other characters, as I mentioned earlier, were underutilized. Diaval, for example, could've used more screentime. He was an interesting character, and I he was the only character with whom I felt a connection.

The cast of characters is very wide and diverse, but the film spreads it out too thinly, often sacrificing the development of other characters just so Angelina Jolie could get more screentime or that the three fairies could just make everyone giggle.

Seriously, whoever thought that repetitive slapstick gags were funny should never have been allowed to right their scenes.

While the film does have a great sense of character development as far as the titular character goes, it was too often let down by poor writing and characterization.

The technical aspects of the movie, however, were why I really stayed (that and because movie tickets are hella expensive). With a nice balance of color and gloominess, Maleficent is a beautifully painted picture of a land that truly feels fantastical. The landscapes were beautiful, the costume design felt unique and hardly ever generic (unlike Jack the Giant Slayer), and the creatures were all so odd and quirky. The movie's overall aesthetic managed to feel unique, in spite of borrowing several fantasy conventions.

Except the dragon. That was a huge letdown.

However, the real highlight of the whole movie is the score. It soars and takes the movie to heights it never could've reached on its own. Unlike many other movies nowadays, Maleficent has a score that evokes emotion out of you as a viewer. It has that kind of score that demands you pay attention (in a good way) and, at least, helps keep you glued to your seat.

The movie, while not bad, wasn't very good either. It HAD the potential to be a great movie, but fell flat on its face in too many aspects that, in the end, leave it stuck in the pool of mediocrity. Its bold ambition to reinvent the classic fairy tale millions of people grew to love ultimately killed it in the end (along with the poor writing and characterization).

Maleficent is a visual marvel with a nice sense of character development and a brilliant score sadly coupled with poor writing, lazy characterization, and miscasting. Overall, it's not a terrible film, but it isn't something you wouldn't wanna spend your money on.

PROS: Beautiful design, terrific score, nice character development on Maleficent's part, ambition
CONS: Everything else.
OVERALL: 6.5 out of 10 - Meh.

Photo Credits:

https://movies.yahoo.com/photos/maleficent-movie-stills-slideshow/

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/01/arts/01DRAGONS1/01DRAGONS1-articleLarge.jpg

http://smcinema.com/sites/default/files/Maleficent_PrincePhillip.jpg