Directed by:
Robert StrombergScreenplay:
Linda WoolvertonCinematography:
Dean SemlerComposer:
James Newton HowardCast:
Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Brenton Thwaites, Kenneth Cranham, Ella Purnell (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the lands over which she presides, the scorned fairy Maleficent places a cruel curse upon the human king's newborn daughter, Aurora. As she grows and comes of age, Aurora is caught in the center of the dangerous conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom which is to be her legacy. Maleficent realizes Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced into bold action which may change both of their worlds forever. (Disney / Buena Vista)
(more)Videos (32)
Reviews (11)
I was expecting a good fairy tale, but this exceeded my expectations. It's a beautiful story that truly is a fairy tale, but there are dark passages and it's quite gritty in places, yet it's pieced together with humor, tenderness, and also the excellent performance of Angelina Jolie. Here, my experience was only marred by people in the cinema who felt the need to loudly express how much they saw and understood the story. And no, I'm not talking about children, I'm talking about adults. The visual aspect is absolutely captivating, and the creators truly excelled with it. The monsters are awesome.
()
Maleficent is another in a series of new adaptations fairytale classics that haven't aged with time, and as a lover of Disney films, I couldn't pass up such a feat. And I have to say that this film is beautifully stylized, they really took care not only on the production design, but also on the look of the characters, both human and mythical. I’ve never been a fan of Angelina Jolie, I was quite put off by her Lara Croft, but this role really suited her perfectly and won my sympathy. As has been mentioned in other reviews here, I also liked the development of the relationship between Aurora and Maleficent, which for me was the centre of the whole story and was handled brilliantly. Who really is the villain in this story? Not everything is as it seems! Finally, I must not forget to mention the magical song "Once Upon a Dream" by Lana Del Rey. All in all, a very well made film which, like all fairy tales, offers a clash between good and evil, alongside a nice audio-visual experience and a likeable cast.
()
Representatives of American studios will probably find my well-intentioned advice unconvincing, but just in case, here you go: When you next want to rehabilitate a fairy tale archvillain, don't skimp and hire a capable screenwriter alongside the cast and crew. I have nothing against alternative stories and different perspectives - I can even accept a gingerbread house being portrayed as a raid by ill-behaved imps destroying an old witch's dwelling, who in a sudden burst of emotion decides to deal with her lack of protein. Just write and film it in a way that makes sense within the context of the fairy tale world and its rules. Unfortunately, Maleficent fails in this aspect. The king, who faces a curse from his only daughter, the queen of the magical world, doesn't have her guarded like his most precious possession by an army of servants, but instead entrusts her upbringing to three clearly inept and quarrelsome fairies - representatives of the world with which he is at war. Nobody watches over the girl, and she regularly meets with the queen of the magical realm without any problems. Except for Maleficent, the other characters are underdeveloped, and in the end, the film relies on traditional Hollywood weapons - set design and special effects. Angelina handles her part with ease, while the other actors don't bring much to the table. I'm somewhat bothered by the visual style that caters to kids and the biggest kitsch enthusiasts. But then again, what can I expect from a family spectacle? Overall impression: 45%.
()
A very atypical 180 million-dollar budget affair that is shorter and more concise than it may seem at first glance. It is surprising how Robert Stromberg builds it from scratch, going straight to the point, without beating around the bush and letting Angelina Jolie fool around with horns and mischievously giggle to add to it all. Unfortunately, the story suffers quite a bit, so if you manage to catch onto the hackneyed plot and see it through the barrage of visual effects and camera flyovers and zooms like in Avatar, you will see that it is very generic and visually polished – maybe even excessively so. Some of the visual effects are aweful, and there’s also the madman Sharlto Copley.
()
Maleficent gave me almost everything I once expected from Snow White with Julia Roberts as the evil queen. A notorious story imaginatively turned on its head, a magical world where the fairytale meets the darker fantasy stuff, as well as an amazing main character on whom everything is of course based. Angelina Jolie is great in the lead role. She is very pretty, she has no problem expressing any emotion, and every smile (there are not many, but they are there) is literally magical. Moreover, the film boasts a beautiful production design, as the rookie director obviously had a lot of visual ideas and James Newton Howard again pulled successful theme music out of his sleeve, the special effects are just right and the flashy digital ones are only occasionally there. The only thing that bothered me was probably the trio of fairy godmothers, especially since they stopped being digital, while the much talked about useless prince is a pretty good joke considering the original fairy tale (where he also does almost nothing because the fairies do most of the work for him).
()
Ads