Review of Maleficent (2014) by Stako — 22 Aug 2014

If anyone ever asks you for an example of a great idea turning into a very mediocre movie - point this title out, I'm sure the will get the idea. If not, they should watch the original Sleeping Beauty and then watch this. Better? Yeah.

This movie indeed has the potential to turn around the whole Sleeping Beauty story into something much better - more intricate, cooler and even thought provoking.

The main problem I have with this movie lays withing the writing and directing. Writers Linda Woolverton and Charles Perrault simply don't give the actors anything worthwhile to work with. Constantly the movie is preoccupied with transition scenes that literally tell us what has or is going on - too obvious, even for a children's movie. I believe it isn't in Disney's style.

Director Robert Stromberg went along with it and tried to make something of it, including some beautiful scenes, and other scenes that are as if ripped out from other fantasy flicks. He has done some pretty good work in the past, however here we see mediocrity and literacy, but I'm pretty sure that came out mainly from the script.

I have to note out that this movie contains some of the worst camerawork I've ever seen - awkward zooming and totally worthless scenes included.

Other than that, actors starring here had nothing to work with to begin with, so no one is even worth mentioning. Jolie tried to make Maleficent faithful and memorable, but ultimately fails, due to reasons already mentioned.

And there is nothing more to say. It's a pretty movie, it had the potential to be a masterpiece, however it falls short to be classified as even a Disney kid film.

It can be entertaining to watch if you have nothing else to do, but that's about it.