Maleficent (2014)

Directed by: Robert Stromberg
Country: USA

Movie Review: Angelina Jolie returns to the screen after four years, fitting as a glove in the role of Maleficent, a betrayed fairy, with horns and wings, who decided to curse a young princess in order to take revenge of her father, the insatiable king Stefan. In their youth, Stefan and Maleficent were in love, but his huge ambition to become king and her incapacity to understand greed and envy in humanity, took them apart. Years later, when the conflict with the humans intensifies, Stefan will vacillate between his love and the necessity to kill Maleficent to fulfill his dream of becoming king. Unable to kill her, he cuts off her wings. From this moment on, the new king won’t have peace and Maleficent, together with her subdued crow-man, Diaval, will create her own kingdom of darkness, targeting Stefan’s newborn daughter, Aurora. The script, written by Linda Woolverton (formerly associated with Disney features and plays), was inspired on “Sleeping Beauty” but told in a different perspective. Unfortunately, it didn’t show enough adroitness to match the magical scenarios, losing steam as it moved forward. The film wasn’t sufficiently dark to surprise and didn’t have the smartness to get rid of that happy magic associated to Disney, which frustrated all the possibilities of a better success in the fantasy-noir genre. Without surprise, “Maleficent” went through a direction that was too lukewarm to enthrall or provide fun. Director Robert Stromberg tried to explore this last aspect with the presence of three neglectful pixies that were supposed to take good care of Aurora, but with insipid results. A limited fairy tale!