Maleficent

With its focus on a character typically cast as a villain, Maleficent shows all the signs being a gloomier reimagining of the classic fairy tale audiences know and love. Its protagonist (Angelina Jolie, The Tourist) curses a baby princess to fall into a deep slumber on her sixteenth birthday, revelling in the misery it brings the king (Sharlto Copley, Oldboy); however this rendering of the story tells not just of an innocent used as a pawn in an act of revenge, but also of a woman cast aside. Elements of Charles Perrault’s La Belle au bois dormant and the original Disney-animated interpretation Sleeping Beauty remain, yet, as the narration delights in telling, this is not the standard version.

Furnishing its titular tough lady with a background of tragedy while fleshing out the usually cartoonish foe with emotion and empathy, Maleficent takes great care in both tasks, its quest one of balance, not of rewriting an antagonist solely as a hero. As a young fairy, Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy, TV’s Eastenders) warms to the boy (newcomer Michael Higgins) who wants to rule the land, but the promise of true love proves not to be. After her flash of vengeance, with the assistance of her shape-shifting offsider (Sam Riley, Byzantium) she watches Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa) grow, pixies Flittle (Lesley Manville, Romeo & Juliet), Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton, The Girl) and Thistletwit (Juno Temple, Magic Magic) striving to keep the royal safe. The more Maleficent observes, the more the consequences of her spell bear on her conscience.

For all its amendments to and reappropriations of the original material, Maleficent is made firmly in the mould of the fairy tale world. Whimsical yet also wry, the film unravels as a fable, laced with magic, sustained by the pursuit of a happy ending, and with a winking eye for differences that it constantly wants viewers to be aware of. The details change, but the same can’t be said for the underlying formula. Perhaps the most welcome and successful alteration comes in the reshaping of traditional notions of happiness through affection, a genre mainstay. 

Special effects artist turned first-time director, Robert Stromberg, and experienced Disney screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, both veterans of the studio’s Alice in Wonderland, also follow the path blazed by that film and feature Oz: The Great and Powerful in the tone and spirit of their revisions. The footprint of Joe Roth, producer of all three as well as Snow White and the Huntsman, similarly leaves a lasting imprint, with Maleficent at its least convincing when its rushed plotting feels taken from the same playbook.

Thankfully, the lead casting arrests most mis-steps, in a masterstroke of matching an actress to a character. Her star power on display in her first on-screen appearance since 2010, Jolie is easily the movie’s strongest asset. The role calls for a mix of malevolent, maligned, enchanting and ethereal, which she perfects in everything from her commanding posture to her pained glare, and even in her mannered accent. A stark contrast emerges between her imposing presence and the almost flimsy, flighty Fanning, as the film obviously calls for. The juxtaposition may benefit the former over the latter, but both sweep the swift and short story along, the epitome of the tortured anti-heroine and her sweet antithesis.

Striking visuals firm up as the next best thing, including swooping camera shots that suit scenes of flying fairies, and impressive effects that add icing to already impressing staging and costuming. Indeed, appearances linger in a film painted with a darker colour palette that relishes the shadows, even if it doesn’t always embrace its potential. Maleficent looks the part in an effort pleasant to watch, but is, of course, unlikely to replace its predecessor as the version of record.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

Maleficent
Director: Robert Stromberg
USA, 2014, 97 mins

Release date: May 29
Distributor: Disney
Rated: M