Maleficent Review.

MALEFICENT REVIEW 8/10 by Most Critics

Over the decades, Disney has been seen both critical and commercial success of its princess movies, many of which have become timeless hits, leaving a lasting cultural imprint. It is one of these classics  that the studio is now revisiting in the form of Maleficent, a revisionist retelling of the 1959 animated  film Sleeping Beauty from the viewpoint of the story's arch-villainess, the Queen stepmother, who has been transformed into a heartbroken anti-heroine.

We begin in a land divided by age-old hatred between humans and fairies. Despite the animosity
between men and the magical folk, a powerful young fairy with a good heart, named Maleficent(Anglina).
Literally meaning evil- befriends a human boy, Stefan. She falls for him, while he is enticed by power and ambition eventually betraying her to become king.

Hall hath no fury like a fairy scorned and so Maleficent retaliates by placing a curse on King Stefan's
infant daughter Aurora, destining her to eternal slumber that can only be broken by true love kiss.
The king entrusts the princess to three fairies who turn out to be inept dimwits incapable of raising a
child. Maleficent lurks in the background with her shape shifting raven, Diaval, helping the princess when
her guardians falter, growing fond of the young girl in the process.

In the attempt to tell an old story anew, the filmmakers wander so far from the 1959 animation that
they end up loosing its essence. The changes to some of the characters cast them as extreme. To acquire Maleficent, King Stefan is framed as the outright villain in this retelling, transformed into one-dimensional
opportunist. There is one person who arguably shines throughout the movie that is Anglina Jolie. In her
first film appearance in nearly four years, the actor delivers a stunning performance, and poise, despite it lacking the nuances of a well-written character

The film also incorporates beautiful visuals but lacks attention to detail in every other department.
You can tell the director-first time Robert-comes from a special effects background. But he clearly
wasn't the best choice to lead this picture as he lacks the skills to manage the pacing and tone, or to iron
out the inconsistencies in the narratives.

On the whole, this visually gorgeous reimagining of a Disney classic is not as fluid or refined as it should be
Its feminist angle isn't entirely forceful, and the film ends up trending some of the same ground that Frozen did.