Angelina Jolie stars as the iconic Disney villain Maleficent, where the tale of Sleeping Beauty is told from the point of view of the "evil" fairy. During the course of the film, we learn that the tale told before may not be exactly what really happened. Elle Fanning co-stars as princess Aurora.
One thing that quickly became apparent when watching Maleficent is that the visual effects are absolutely stunning. The mystical land of the Moors (Maleficent's home) is astoundingly designed, and includes some of the best special effects that I have ever seen. But then again, with the director being a former visual effects supervisor, would you expect any less? It does, however, feel almost as though the focus of the film is on the visual effects. It was somewhat lacking in other departments.Character development was one of these. Maleficent, the evil fairy herself and the namesake of the entire film, is on the whole underdeveloped and lacking in character. If you expected this film to be about a Disney villainess being badass, think again. Jolie's character is, for the most part, made out to be a tragic anti-heroine who is, in fact, the one who has been wronged. Unfortunately, her backstory is also tremendously cliche, with her being bertayed by the man that she loved, and thus seeking revenge. Jolie does the best with what she is given, though, and her performance was quite good. Even though she seems to be wearing a perpetually stony expression throughout the film. An iconic Disney villainess is not, after all, the jovial type of person.
Supposedly the story of Sleeping Beauty told from the villains perspective, Maleficent really turns the story of the classic Disney animation on it's head. Many events occur that never even happened in the original, and the entire film basically tells us that the story we know is all a lie. The film may be from a different perspective, but in Maleficent, even Elle Fanning's Aurora seems to think of the fairy as the hero of the tale. There is absolutely no consistency with the original animation, and from Disney, you would expect some consistency.A film with many flaws. Maleficent is far from the perfect film, but it's certainly an entertaining feast for the eyes.
