We are seeing quite a lot of live action remakes of old fairytales recently. Just a couple of years ago we had the re-telling of the Snow White story with two films that almost came out back-to-back, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. The marketing for these films is exceptionally intelligent; of course you are going to have tonnes of Disney fans who grew up with these stories and will want to see them on the big screen but on top of that, they want to hear the other side of the story. We want to imagine what it might be like if Snow White or Sleeping Beauty were real people.
However, even though the last couple of projects were a little juvenile and appealing to a younger audience as well as adults, the upcoming live action films depicting old fairytale stories are becoming much serious, very much like the comic book and superhero genre. On top of Maleficent, there is another version of Cinderella on the way and they are taking this one very seriously, Kenneth Brannagh is in charge of the project. No one can deny that Angelina Jolie took her role as Maleficent incredibly seriously, this was one live action remake that was totally worth it.
The film tells the story of Maleficent, the evil villain in Sleeping Beauty who curses the Princess and ensures that on her sixteenth birthday she will fall into a deep sleep and can only be awoken by true love’s first kiss. However, this story is told from Maleficent’s perspective. As a young fairy, Maleficent lives in the woodland area with the rest of the fairy creatures but everything changes when she meets Stefan, an ambitious young man who eventually abandons his “one true love” for the human world and ambition. In order to win the throne however, Stefan must destroy the one thing that means the most to Maleficent.
Hell bent on revenge, Maleficent turns up at the castle on the day of Stefan’s daughter’s christening in order to place a curse on the young child. She swears that on her 16th birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and the curse will be complete. In a panic, Stefan sends Aurora out to the countryside with three fairies to protect in order that she might be kept safe. However, the curse is binding and although Maleficent continues to watch over the little girl, there is nothing that could change her spell.
One thing is for certain, this is completely Angelina’s show and the rest of the cast just happen to exist in her surroundings. She is simply magnificent as Maleficent, perfectly nailing the accent, the depths of her love for Stefan, her grief at his loss and the extremities of her revenge. Every movement is thought out, every action right down to her eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. Her comic timing is surprisingly perfect. This is perhaps one of her best performances to date. The rest of the cast don’t really have a lot to do except play close to the roles from the original Sleeping Beauty but that’s just fine, Angie can do this solo.
Although from the trailers we thought we were going to see a much darker film, Maleficent is surprisingly child friendly and it looks absolutely beautiful. It is a bit distressing to see Maleficent de-villainised to such an extent, many will still like to think of her as a bit of an evil villain but it’s also nice to see that she has a motive. This re-imagining, right up to that kiss, works entirely and it isn’t too long to leave you bored, it comes in at just 90 minutes.
Worth it for the children alone but we think people will certainly get enjoyment out of Angie.
