Maleficent (2014) - Newest Live action Disney retelling

★★★☆☆

 

5 word summary:

Good, goes bad, goes good.

5 sentence review:

I was really excited for this film, especially because I love villains, but I was sadly disappointed when it turned out that they decided to give Maleficent a (rubbish) back-story and reasons behind what she does, and go even further to then try to reverse her bad way.

I was hoping that the bad plot decisions would be compensated for a beautiful film, but really it just looked obviously CGI, you could even clearly see how much make up was on some of the actor's faces (young Maleficent in particular) and that ruined things a little bit for me.

Aside from the bad points this was actually quite well cast, Jolie was perfect and I was really pleased to see Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley, who I've seen in other things and think they're very good; however Aurora and the fairies were not as strong, although I don't think it was the fairies fault,  I think that problem was down to bad scripting and bad CGI (again).

The magical creatures in this were very creative, with tree guards and crow-animals, and that was enjoyable to see someone's creativity coming out while still maintaining the original creatures (like Maleficent's crow and the dragon).

Overall, this film is worth seeing, but not necessarily paying for, maybe if it's on TV; just before there was a trailer for the original Sleeping Beauty and frankly it just made me wish I was watching the original rather than this remake.

5 good things:

1. Angelina Jolie looks amazing!

2. Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley were really good and I'm glad they're in such a big film.

3.  The crow wolf/horse/dragon looked awesome and were a good idea.

4. 'Once Upon A Dream' is amazingly redone (although not used in the film other than the end credits).

5.  Adorable cameos from Angelina Jolie's children.

5 bad things:

1. Why can't villains just be villainous? Why do they need reasons for everything?

2.  It seemed as though 90% of the cast were putting on accents, just hire people with the actual accents.

3.  Also, try to hire child actors who can act.

4. There were a lot of awkward close-ups of people staring or smiling.

5. The fairies were annoying and a little pointless, definitely not as good as the original three.