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Maleficent image

CAST
ANGELINA JOLIE
KENNETH CRANHAM
SHARLTO COPLEY
ELLE FANNING
LESLIE MANVILLE
SAM RILEY
IMELDA STAUNTON
JUNO TEMPLE
BRENTON THWAITES

BASED ON THE STORY 'LA BELLE AU BOIS DORMANT" WRITTEN BY
CHARLES PERRAULT

BASED ON THE STORY "LITTLE BRIAR ROSE" WRITTEN BY
JACOB GRIMM
WILHELM GRIMM

BASED ON THE MOVIE ''SLEEPING BEAUTY'' WRITTEN BY
MILT BANTA
WINSTON HIBLER
BILL PEET
ERDMAN PENNER
JOE RINALDI
TED SEARS
RALPH WRIGHT

SCREENPLAY BY
LINDA WOOLVERTON

PRODUCED BY
JOE ROTH 

DIRECTED BY
ROBERT STROMBERG

GENRE
ADVENTURE
DRAMA
FANTASY

RATED
AUS: M
UK: PG
USA:PG

RUNNING TIME
97 MIN

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IMAGES
MOVIE POSTERS

TRAILERS & CLIPS

MALEFICENT (2014)

A modern new take on a Disney classic, Maleficent succeeds mostly to a multifaceted performance by Angelina Jolie, who injects wit and passion into the artificial CGI landscapes.

Re-writing the rules is something Disney are more than willing to do whilst updating their back catalogue of fairy-tales. The winners in all of this are female characters. Brave gave us the first female protagonist in a Pixar movie. Frozen provided a rousing rendition of sisterhood to the tune of $1 billion box office gross worldwide. And now we have Maleficent, an origin story on one of the great fairy tale villains who is dissected and placed back together as a wholly new sympathetic, interesting and frightening creature in both her motives and relationship with the enchanting Sleeping Beauty (Elle Fanning).

The casting of Angelina Jolie as the title character is a stroke of genius. As well as the sharp cheekbones and piercing eyes that are part of her striking features, Jolie brings that deep emotional well that she draws upon to portray the agony, heartbreak and anger, that transforms this pure young fairy with the horns and mighty wings into a violated, vengeful villain clad in a leather outfit that's as black as her heart.

Of course it is love gone sour that unleashes the devil, a young love with a King from the rival kingdom of man, Stefan (Sharlto Copley) whose ambition to rule all of the lands brings about treachery and a curse upon his kingdom.

And let it be known that Maleficent can be very dark, as any humanist fantasy about the nature of evil can be. Much like Sam Raimi did in Oz the Great and Powerful, director Robert Stromberg evokes nightmarish, gothic imagery during times of wicked malevolence that is sure to have the wee little ones shaking in their booties. Meanwhile adults will appreciate the many shades to this character transformed into evil.

Less so impressive are the visual effects featured in Maleficent, which is a shame considering Stromberg is a strong visualist who has won Oscars for Art Direction on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. While not as over the top as the latter, the visual effects in Maleficent (especially within the fairy kingdom) seem a little too synthetic, a little too un-rendered and (in the not too distant future) will be seen as a little too dated.

Thankfully Jolie's performance makes up for it, especially during her scenes with Elle Fanning whose joyous presence and beaming smile lights up the heart of even the blackest of souls, with Jolie playing the conflicting emotions evoked by the princess she is supposed to hate with a comedic, tender touch.

Once again, the relaunch of Disney's classic titles is very much an exercise in gender restructuring, with female characters be they princess, heroine or villain given more depth and more action. Meanwhile traditional male roles have been flipped on their head. Dashing, heroic princes have now become bumbling fools. Kings of strength and honour, now corrupt and tyrannical.

Changed too is the approach to evil, which is no longer presented as a force but now must have psychological reasoning’s behind the ways of the wicked.

Whether this means an end to the traditional structures of these stories and their characters remains to be seen. Yet as long as the performances and characters are as strong as those in Maleficent, let us be content (for now) to say: Prince Charming is dead. Long live the Wicked Witch.

***
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