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Mr.Sparkle

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08-18-14

I figured I'd make a thread where I can jot down my thoughts on some films. Not going to be a thread for newly released movies, just movies I watch in general. Good...bad....it doesn't matter.

Nothing long like TUS or JayDee either. They both put in a lot to their reviews, me...I just like to jot down some notes and thoughts.

So I hope you guys like it and it sparks some kind of debate about the things we love and the things we love to hate...movies.

Table of Contents:

Maleficent

Last edited by Mr.Sparkle; 08-20-14 at 11:51 PM.

Mr.Sparkle

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08-20-14

Maleficent
Let us tell an old tale a new, to see how well you know it.

As with Wicked, this is a fairy tale from the villains point of view. In this tale, we learn of the trauma that lead Maleficent to her evil ways.

The film feels the need to over explain the mythology and tell the viewer about EVERYTHING in the first few minutes. Show me something visually to start the film, don't dive head first into boring dialogue. I understand that the film is a fairy tale and they usually open up with the classic 'Once Upon A Time", but I feel that in modern times we can leap forward and not have to rely on poor screenwriting. Those opening segments with a young Maleficent are cringe worthy in my mind.

Maleficent knows Stefan from when they were kids and they form a friendship between each other. As they grow older, they grow apart. Maleficent from the Fairy Creature kingdom and Stefan from the Human Kingdom. He ultimately betrays her for more power and the way the film plays this out felt like a rape metaphor to me. She trusts him and lies in his arms, he drugs her a physical violates her, taking something away from her, something personal. He regards this as a trophy and Maleficent wakes up later, feeling violated, alone and beaten. It feels similar to the story of Snow White and the Huntsman, where the Huntsman has to come back with a bloody trophy to show that he has "killed" Snow White. The difference is that, as I said before, there is a relationship there that Stefan is very consciously giving up. This betrayal is what leads Maleficent to turn into the "creature" hell bent on revenge.

I appreciate how this scene repositions Maleficent to us, it paints her as a trauma victim and gives the viewer a better understanding on some of her thoughts, motivations and goals. A lot of people, at least from what I've heard around the Internet, are asking if we really *need* this film. Why is it around? Yes, it is a product a Disney, they are looking to milk a franchise, obviously. Case in point, more live-action films are being put forth because of the success of this one. With that being said, it is made and what we've been given is something with a purpose.

Jolie works here, she internalized some heavy psychology and manages to project it into a big, theatrical performance. She does a lot of work with her eyes and mouth. This is a facial performance for sure. Jolie plays the character as, again, a trauma victim, but a trauma victim that is trying on the role of the villain. I'd have to say that the best part of the film is Jolie's look and performance.

I can't help but hate the look of this film. The visual design is too distracting. The director here did the visual effects for Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful, and Maleficent is a cookie cutter version of those films in terms of the creative environments. It feels fake, it looks fake and it will take you out of the story. Crowded to the brim with detail, in a bad way. You'll never believe that any of these creations are there with the actors, especially when the two interact. It is painful to witness it with the modern technology we have. Hollywood needs to go back to traditional set decoration and leave the green screen behind, or at the very least, use it is fill in the gaps of our imagination, not blast it over the screen.

Maleficent fails to deliver on some important levels, at times the film felt like it wasn't going anywhere and I became frustrated. While there are some nice moments, a lot of it is due to Jolie, I can't help but feel underwhelmed by the whole thing. The themes of motherhood and parental guidance are evident, with Maleficent keeping an eye on Arora, but the films just skims the surface of such things. It could have dug a little deeper, find another layer and then the film would have had more emotional punches to hurl at us. The fault lies on first time director Stromberg, who seems to be more interested in Fairy Tale creatures than character relationships.

TheUsualSuspect

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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds

08-20-14

I agree with your points, especially about the "rape" scene, that was the first thing that came to my mind when Jolie woke up wounded and let out her cries.

My biggest gripe with the film is the over use of the CGI. I said in my Alice in Wonderland review that even though Burton has the tools to create endless imaginative creatures and environments with todays technology, I can't help but feel that it hinders him. The same goes for tis film. Cool, we get to see CGI creatures float in the sky, Avatar like bio-lumination and bad versions of actors faces, but I want to see this more seamlessly intergraded, not shoved in our faces. The film loses the wow factor that it so desperately was trying for.

Jolie rocks my socks.

Last edited by TheUsualSuspect; 08-21-14 at 09:51 AM.