Maleficent

Though the idea is more or less lifted from Wicked, I very much liked the idea of Maleficent. Just as ‘Wicked’ looks again at The Wizard of Oz and says ‘Hold on – this woman just saw her sister crushed to death by a stranger from another world, the same world as the outsider who is currently in a rather questionable ruling position...maybe we should look again at why she goes after Dorothy’, this film looks at that evil fairy from Disney’s version of Sleeping Beauty and asks ‘Why does the king reject her at the Christening? Why has she become evil?’

While indeed, it shares much with Wicked, it is where it departs dramatically from that conceptualisation of an evil being from a fairy tale that Maleficent both triumphs and, later, trips up. Where Wicked – at least in book form – concentrates on a political situation, Maleficent explores the relationship between this evil being and the child she has cursed in the years before she falls asleep. It may be less ambitious, but it works superbly, and addresses subtly what the blessing that Aurora will be loved by all means to Maleficent herself. It allows for a sympathetic portrayal and works quite brilliantly. What spoils the film for me, and holds it back from being the kind of classic I’d like to see played at Christmastime year on year is that where Wicked manages to weave around the original Oz story right up until the end, Maleficent can only work as a sympathetic reimagining by utterly departing from the source and giving an ending quite unlike what happens in the original. This, to me, is a major failing, made even worse by the fact that the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ doesn’t even sleep long enough to get in a full night’s kip, meaning she deserves neither legend nor moniker.

It is a real shame, because other than this decision, I loved the film almost unreservedly. The opening portrayal of Maleficent’s childhood and relationship with King Stephan is obvious but works and is beautifully-realised right up to its bittersweet climax. I’d have liked a bit more detail about the events leading up to the Christening scene – what happened to all those other candidates to be king? Did they not seek to depose Stephan when it became clear that he hadn’t actually performed the deed with which he won the throne? – but I could accept the omissions for the sake of brevity.

The middle section of the film is where its heart is. It is a stroke of genius that the three good fairies are inept (and genuinely funny comic relief), which necessitates Maleficent herself stepping in to act as the child Aurora’s guardian from the shadows. Humanising Maleficent not only with this relationship but with her manservant and foil Diaval the crow (who presumably becomes ‘Diablo’ at some point), played with just the right balance of respect and irreverence by Sam Riley, from Brighton Rock. Big draw Angelina Jolie was a fantastic choice, not just for how well she suits enhanced cheekbones – she has the regal, frosty atmosphere around her quite naturally, which means that when she crumbles and looks vulnerable it seems so very genuine. It’s not always easy to get the audience on her side, but here it works, not least because the story revolves around getting the audience on the side of a traditional, well-established villain.

Elle Fanning is also an excellent choice for Aurora, as pretty as she was in Super 8 while now a young adult, the role that could be so flat and cardboard is fleshed out and made likeable by the most subtle delivery of lines and small gestures. Again, the three fairies who could have been annoying in their frivolity are genuinely funny and likeable, and even bland Prince Philip is made likeable by irreverent treatment and adolescent awkwardness. It’s perhaps unfortunate that one of the key twists is almost exactly the one in Frozen, but that’s coincidental and much less central here than it was there.

Visually, the film is a beaut. Some of the fantastical creatures in the opening may date fast, but overall the film ought to stand the test of time for a while, and there are some stunning shots – like winged Maleficent silhouetted on a sunset sky. The music, including Lana Del Ray cover, is suitably haunting throughout and the costuming/makeup ought to win some awards. In all technical regards, I was impressed, and the film held my attention absolutely throughout.

All of which makes me sadder that I was let down at the end. It all felt like a cop-out, like a cheat, to eventually fall back on ‘the story you heard was wrong – not only in the details but in the entire climactic narrative arc’.

Even with this drawback, though, the film is a very strong one and well worth the time to check out.