My thoughts after seeing Maleficent
I went into this movie expecting that I would hate it. After seeing previews and TV spots and interviews with Angelina Jolie on Youtube, I anticipated that this movie would totally bomb. This was going to be a travesty. It would be too dark, and while the movie was going to look fantastic, it wouldn't be well written or well acted. The direction would be good, but it wouldn't be enough to save it, and while it will make a lot of money, it won't be (by most metrics) a good movie. I went into the dollar theater as a blank slate. I went in with as open I mind as I can have.
And I can safely say that I was totally right.
Let's start with the most important thing about this movie, Maleficent herself. I haven't seen the original Sleeping Beauty, so a lot of this is based on pretense that could be completely false, but I was right when I said Angelina was miscast. She looks the part, but much like her makeup turned her into a plastic Barbie, her acting was incredibly stiff. Angelina never quite got the character. She was playing the Joker when she should have been playing Maleficent. I never got a read on the years of scorn, neglect, and mistrust that was the films purpose for existing. She was having fun, but she should have been angry and vengeful. And then at the end when she killed what's-his-face and everything went back to normal, I didn't get a read on the feeling of fulfillment, or guilt, or happiness, or any natural reaction to this situation. I mean, she wasn't a bad as this guy:
And I can safely say that I was totally right.
Let's start with the most important thing about this movie, Maleficent herself. I haven't seen the original Sleeping Beauty, so a lot of this is based on pretense that could be completely false, but I was right when I said Angelina was miscast. She looks the part, but much like her makeup turned her into a plastic Barbie, her acting was incredibly stiff. Angelina never quite got the character. She was playing the Joker when she should have been playing Maleficent. I never got a read on the years of scorn, neglect, and mistrust that was the films purpose for existing. She was having fun, but she should have been angry and vengeful. And then at the end when she killed what's-his-face and everything went back to normal, I didn't get a read on the feeling of fulfillment, or guilt, or happiness, or any natural reaction to this situation. I mean, she wasn't a bad as this guy:
but she seemed incredibly wooden. Then again, this could be blamed on the script.
This script was horrible. I didn't notice until the second act, but it really is horrible. The writer could not find the organism. No dialogue in this movie sounded realistic, and a lot of the scenes either didn't go anywhere, or had some incredibly bizarre component that made me question why I hadn't snuck into X-Men yet. I might be judging the script too harshly. It is a fairy tale movie, and that was the tone that they went for. That doesn't excuse everything though.
I remember specifically one scene towards the end. Maleficent is confronted with her worst and most powerful enemy. She can't escape because she is surrounded by men with iron shields. She has been thrown on the floor and it is the beginning of the adrenaline filled climax. The insane king is approaching and the guards start banging the shields against the floor... what? Why the hell are they doing that? It builds tension and everything, but why isn't this banging noise part of the soundtrack? It doesn't need to actually be happening does it?
The director on this film, while intelligent, took the script as scripture. The reason we have scenes like the shield banging scene is because at some point during the creative process nobody said that it didn't make sense. The director shot the film that the screenwriter gave him, which is a shame because the screenwriter didn't know what they were were doing.
The film looked great, though. Every scene had some magnificent or at least interesting piece of set or animation that me and my mom were absolutely eating up. The forest and the creatures in it were great, and Maleficent didn't look stupid (until the end). As far as the visual effects crew is concerned, I can proudly proclaim "mission accomplished." However, the dark tone of the story translated into the art department which made the ending of the film not seem like a Disney movie.
The problem with Disney is that they're losing their touch. Sometimes there's a great hit like Frozen (which was a pretty good kids movie even though I didn't like it), but pretty much everything right now is too scary or too inappropriate. Guardians of the Galaxy was great, but it doesn't change the fact that Disney financed a movie where the main character flips off the audience... in the trailer. There's a quote from Shel Silversten that applies here:
"I don't write for children. I write, and someone else says 'that's for children.'"
Disney, please for the love of God make a movie that I like. I know you're trying to make money, and a strategy for making money is to make something people want, but if you make something really good, then people will want it. You've forgotten how to write a kids movie, and before you can write and have someone proclaim it to be for children, you need to write something for children.
The point is, I was right that this movie wouldn't be good. I didn't hate it, it was just boring and I didn't find it worth the price of admission.
This script was horrible. I didn't notice until the second act, but it really is horrible. The writer could not find the organism. No dialogue in this movie sounded realistic, and a lot of the scenes either didn't go anywhere, or had some incredibly bizarre component that made me question why I hadn't snuck into X-Men yet. I might be judging the script too harshly. It is a fairy tale movie, and that was the tone that they went for. That doesn't excuse everything though.
I remember specifically one scene towards the end. Maleficent is confronted with her worst and most powerful enemy. She can't escape because she is surrounded by men with iron shields. She has been thrown on the floor and it is the beginning of the adrenaline filled climax. The insane king is approaching and the guards start banging the shields against the floor... what? Why the hell are they doing that? It builds tension and everything, but why isn't this banging noise part of the soundtrack? It doesn't need to actually be happening does it?
The director on this film, while intelligent, took the script as scripture. The reason we have scenes like the shield banging scene is because at some point during the creative process nobody said that it didn't make sense. The director shot the film that the screenwriter gave him, which is a shame because the screenwriter didn't know what they were were doing.
The film looked great, though. Every scene had some magnificent or at least interesting piece of set or animation that me and my mom were absolutely eating up. The forest and the creatures in it were great, and Maleficent didn't look stupid (until the end). As far as the visual effects crew is concerned, I can proudly proclaim "mission accomplished." However, the dark tone of the story translated into the art department which made the ending of the film not seem like a Disney movie.
The problem with Disney is that they're losing their touch. Sometimes there's a great hit like Frozen (which was a pretty good kids movie even though I didn't like it), but pretty much everything right now is too scary or too inappropriate. Guardians of the Galaxy was great, but it doesn't change the fact that Disney financed a movie where the main character flips off the audience... in the trailer. There's a quote from Shel Silversten that applies here:
"I don't write for children. I write, and someone else says 'that's for children.'"
Disney, please for the love of God make a movie that I like. I know you're trying to make money, and a strategy for making money is to make something people want, but if you make something really good, then people will want it. You've forgotten how to write a kids movie, and before you can write and have someone proclaim it to be for children, you need to write something for children.
The point is, I was right that this movie wouldn't be good. I didn't hate it, it was just boring and I didn't find it worth the price of admission.