Maleficent (2014) [Blu-ray]
Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline: Don't believe the fairy tale

Maleficent explores the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king's newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

Storyline: A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal - an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces a battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom - and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, October 30, 2014 -- In Disney's retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty story, love once again takes center stage as the key plot driver, but so too do themes of good and evil and the malleability of men and other living things in possession of a heart and soul to be swayed by the draws of power, tamed by the hands of time, but always susceptible to the unending push of light to darkness and darkness to light that, yes, frequently brightens the world in the form of love. Maleficent's story and characters bend to the ebbs and flows of light and dark, of love and loathing, of sincerity and trickery in a world in topsy-turvy upheaval under the clashing powers of good and evil, good and evil that often knows no face but rather basic emotions and developed feelings that are in a constant state of change under the greater spells of time, togetherness, understanding, anger, hatred, and indeed, love. The live-action recreation of one of Disney's most cherished tales is a rousing success, maintaining core story elements but at the same time making its own alterations to give this version its own identity. It's classic Disney even in live-action form, a film that effortlessly captures the essence of the original animated tale while bending it into a different shape, all with the accessibility and technical wizardry modern audiences demand.

Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) is a fairy who lives a peaceful life in the Moors, a simple land filled with wonder where its inhabitants live in harmony with one another, which is in stark contrast to the more hierarchical and violence-prone human land which sits adjacent to the Moors. One day, a young thief named Stefan (Michael Higgins) is caught stealing jewels from the river but is forgiven when Maleficent grows closer to him. They develop a bond that grows more closely over the years. One day, the human king (Kenneth Cranham) lays siege to the Moors. He's mortally wounded but promises the throne to anyone who can avenge him by bringing him a prize: proof of Maleficent's (Angelina Jolie) demise. Stefan (Sharlto Copley), hungry for power, uses his friendly history with Maleficent to lure her to him. While he cannot bring himself to kill her, he does take her wings as a trophy. He ascends to the throne and gains the power he's always wanted. When Maleficent learns his queen has birthed a child, she curses the infant, foretelling of a simple prick at the tip of a spindle on her sixteenth birthday that will forever render her in a state of sleep, a spell that can only be broken by true love's kiss, a thing Maleficent believes does not, and never will, exist.

The core theme of Maleficent involves the ever-changing landscape of good and evil and the internal and external corruptions, but also the greater humanity, that can drive one towards either side, and even swing between sides, as circumstances but also one's own moral compass dictate. In the film, both Stefan and Maleficent take their turns on both sides, his defined by a lust for power and hers a craving for revenge, his heart darkened by the desires shaped by his place in life, hers the product of a body suddenly tortured and a soul pushed to the extreme. The picture does a marvelous job at finding a balance between overtly pronouncing the dichotomies between good and evil and gently weaving them into the greater character dynamics that string the movie together. On the surface, Maleficent appears, initially, as both angel and demon, adorned with wings and horns alike, symbolizing the conflict capable of building within her. When she loses her wings -- or the outward symbol of good -- her turn to evil is swift when the symbolic devil is all that's left behind. For Stefan, the transformation is something of a reversal, where his inner greed for power ultimately manifests an outer need to protect his child at all costs. For him, love is born of evil. For Maleficent, evil is born from love. The real question, then, is how, and if, the circle will complete itself, if love which has become loathing can once again become love.

Maleficent additionally satisfies beyond the well-defined and precisely executed themes. It's a digital marvel, a veritable playground of all things CGI that actually look good, like they belong, like they work in conjunction with the movie, not dominating of or distracting from it. Whether creature transformations, walking moss-covered tree warriors, buzzing fairies, or complex backgrounds, the film is only enhanced by the precise work carefully crafted by the digital artists. The movie additionally flows well and manages to tell a story that's both easily accessible and deeply seeded in a rather compact time frame, running just over ninety minutes but managing to satisfy all requirements dramatic, thematic, and technical without overextending its welcome. It's also wonderfully performed. Angelina Jolie appears in what is arguably a career-defining role, portraying a wonderfully complex character who she manages to simplify without dumbing down, to make friendly and frightening both without losing a bond with the audience. Jolie, more than any other performer in the film, seems to understand and capture that delicate essence the movie so easily captures, which is the balance between darkly frightening, thematically deep, and dramatically simple yet audience friendly and approachable. Jolie melts into the part, including both the extremes that inwardly define the character as well as the more simple costuming and stage presence that outwardly shape the character. Quickly rising star Sharlto Copley, who dazzled in both District 9 and Elysium may not play the part for which he will be remembered, but he does play it earnestly, with a passion for the part and an understanding of the role's greater requirements beyond simple dialogue and physical postures.

While Maleficent retains many of the original animated movie's building blocks, it does alter the story to the point that purists may become disenchanted with the end result. Fear not, however, as the movie works, and works very well, in its present state, with its own story surprises that offer another perspective on the many themes that run through it. It's richly told but with an underlying simplicity that allows the movie to be at once both a visual wonder but also a thematically deep journey, a novel experience while playing comfortably familiar. It's beautifully photographed, very well performed, and digitally heavy but not to the point of overwhelming the experience. It's such a success that one must wonder if Disney will look to reclaim classic animated tales in live-action form again later on down the line. Could Snow White or Beauty and the Beast be next? Disney's Blu-ray release of Maleficent is magnificent. While it sadly lacks a more thorough supplemental section, video and audio presentations are pristine. Highly recommended.

[CSW] -2.6- Angelina Jolie does a stellar job as Maleficient. This Disney movie has an interesting story full of humor, wonder, and fantasy. It really reinforces the idea that there are always two sides to every story and the storyline was well told. It had good costumes, wonderful soundtrack, nice make-up, but aside from that, really nothing special. I think it was made with 3D in mind but somehow missed that mark (although there is the potential for a later Blu-ray 3D release). Unfortunately it just wasn't that memorable and not something that stuck in my mind. Sorry but for me there were exactly two characters in this movie: Maleficent and her crow servant. All other characters--including Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)--were about as 2 dimensional as could be with no growth, personality, or complexity of their own. Since some viewers rated it very highly I suggest that you rent it or wait for it to come on TV first.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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