Looking up Maleficent, I had learned that Angelina Jolie is meant to be fantastic in the lead role, and that the film is a bit rubbish. So I was unsurprised when both of these turned out to be true.
It got off to a bad start when a condescending voiceover and two annoying youngsters opened the action. Possibly in 3D, the images of the young fairy Maleficent flying amongst the magical creatures and improbable landscape would have been spectacular. In 2D, the scenes were still impressive but dulled by the unengaging youth and lack of true wonder.
The years go by and Maleficent turns into Jolie and, betrayed by her beloved, Maleficent turns from eco warrior to evil despotic queen of the fairy realm, and then the story starts to intersect with the classic Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.
Except it kind of doesn’t. Sure, the cursing scene happens, and Maleficent comes along to the christening of Aurora, the King’s daughter, to an eternity of sleep on her 16th birthday when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel (or whatever). And this is truly the best scene in the film, Jolie all cheek bones and campy threats and magical power.
But the scene is tweaked a bit. The good fairies are now emissaries from the magical realm on a mission of peace, though as Maleficent is the Queen there, they don’t actually represent anyone in her government and, besides, the human King and his subjects have never respected magic or magical creatures either. The third fairly doesn’t get to grant Aurora her superficial magical gift at all, as the “caveat” on the curse, about it being broken by true love’s kiss, is given to Maleficent, and so I am not altogether sure what she is there for.
And therein lies the main problem with the film. EVERYTHING is given to Maleficent: action, characterisation, screen time. While I would have thought that, after the curse, the story might have shifted to Aurora and her upbringing, still we stay with Maleficent, even as the King embarks on his mad quests to: destroy all spinning wheels by not destroying them but locking them in a room and kind of charring them a little; sends his daughter away to be looked after by three magical bumbling incompetents rather than keeping her until her 16th birthday (as she is almost guaranteed to live until then) and raising her in a loving home; and ignores his beloved Queen who (I presume) dies off screen in horrible agony of extreme neglect.
As a baby, Aurora is charming. As Elle Fanning, Aurora becomes obnoxious, all wide-eyed smiles and innocence and completely ungrateful to the women who have dedicated 15 years of their lives raising her. Only when the handsome prince comes along is her beautiful blandness and lack of screen presence matched. Even when she returns to the King, he basically ignores her and anything that happens to her as he embarks on his own mad quest, meaning that she basically plays no role in the story at all.
The ending therefore is rubbish, people dying (always by their own fault) as you would expect them to, Maleficent’s side of the tale being that she is the heroine and only character of any interest whatsoever in the story. And then Aurora is crowned queen of both realms (well three, as I presume the handsome prince she will be forced to marry even though he played no part in her rescue also has a realm and showed up only when needed by the classic story, not for any reason relating to this tale) and, as there were none from her father’s lands there for the coronation, I presume she ruled with an iron fist over the kingdom where humans lived as pets and slaves to their evil magical overlords. If only.
Verdict: Maleficent is all about Angelina Jolie and she is amazing. But she is amazing at the expense of everyone and everything else. Luckily the film is only about 90 minutes long, but still I felt I should have left earlier. 3 magic wishes out of 10.
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