Thoughts on Angelina Jolie's "Maleficent"

When I first heard that there was a film about "Maleficent" in the works, starring Angelina Jolie, I have to admit I freaked out a bit. Maleficent has always been my favorite Disney villainess, and is arguably the most iconic. However, what really thrilled me was that early reports said the film would be Maleficent's "Wicked", i.e. tell her side of the story. That's what really got me going; Wicked (the book or the musical, either or) is one of the best retellings of a classic tale, offering depth and a new side to a character (The Wicked Witch of the West) we had all been told to hate for so long, and the fact that Sleeping Beauty's queen of evil was going to get that treatment was thrilling me.

Unfortunately, as much as early trailers excited me, I could see where Maleficent was headed... in the same canon as recent Disney CGI crap fests such as "Alice in Wonderland" or "OZ the Great and Powerful". While both were fun and silly, family targeted films, they didn't offer anything beyond their shiny, sleek appearances. However, the reason why Maleficent fails so much more than those films, however, is because of how much promise it squandered in favor of following OZ and Alice, not mention, it wastes Angelina Jolie's obvious talent.

Jolie as an actress has never found a film as great as she is; it's easy to say her career as the world's most beautiful, and famous woman has transcended her acting credits. Even her Academy Award winning role in the drama "Girl, Interrupted" couldn't match her sheer ferocity; whenever she was offscreen, the film had a massive hole that none of the other actresses involved could fill. Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" was too long, uneven (though engaging) and while it won Jolie her second Oscar nomination, it clearly only worked because of her.

Maleficent honestly could have changed that, that is, if it was the Wicked-style version it was originally hyped up to be, because Jolie has a magnetism I couldn't deny while watching the film (as she does in every film she's in). Though the script leaves her doing nothing but snarling and uttering dialogue sometimes straight from the original animated film Sleeping Beauty, she is utterly mesmerizing as the iconic mistress of evil, which only makes the pain worse; I wish the film not only let her be as strong as I know she could be, but was as strong as I knew it could be.

The story starts off promising enough, with the reason behind Maleficent's evil actions blamed on the fact she was betrayed by Princess Aurora's (Elle Fanning) father King Stefan. As children, Stefan and Melficent became fast friends, and developed a romantic attraction. However, that changed when Stefan cuts off her wings, an act that will make him king of the kingdom and one that leavs her flightless and heartbroken. The relationship, however, is glossed over in favor of a 10 minute CGI infested fight scene between Maleficent's nature creatures and the king's soldiers. The film reduces the queen to a silly girl with a crush, which would have been fine if the film explained the girl, or the crush at all.

What follows is the development between the princess and Maleficent, who becomes a sort of fairy godmother to her, watching over her until the dreaded day she turns 16 and pricks her finger on the spinning wheel. Fanning is another clearly gifted actress (look no further than her performance in "Super 8" and "Ginger and Rosa") who the film squanders; she's nothing more than the silly, beautiful princess without a cool thought in her head. The relationship between the 2 could have been a very emotional focal point in the film, and it's sold to us as such, however, it's never legitimate enough to buy into, instead resulting into more confusion as the film completely changes the story's ending altogether.

Maleficent can best be compared to a slow, mind numbing train crash; I had to keep myself watching the whole thing, though every thing inside me told me to stop, and look away from the complete and utter mess that was unfolding in front of me. It's quite sad, because had the film not focused so much on pandering to the summer audience, it could have had a deep, engaging story, which relates to the current issue of big name studios dumbing their films down to be cash grabs and make money. Unfortunately, they haven't realized that audiences appreciate thoughtful, compelling storytelling just as much as they enjoy explosions and fight scenes. Though Jolie will ultimately win Disney a bunch of money with this film, she has lost one of her fans. My hope is that she takes all of the squandered talent from this film, and transfers it to her upcoming directorial feature "Unbroken".

Grade: F

Oscar Chances: Maybe VFX, some makeup and costuming nominations, or even art direction? I wouldn't argue with any of those because the craft on this film is the only thing that's good about it... but no more than that.