new blog: Review: “Maleficent” or How Disney Made a Hilariously Bad B-Movie

[WebmasterLeah]

Maleficent has been highly anticipated by Disney fans since it was first announced and after the first clips of Angelina Jolie in the title role were released the hype started to grow increasingly. Throw in a re-imagined version of “Once Upon A Dream” sung by pop artist Lana del Rey in a haunting style along with an intense marketing campaign and Disney can’t fail, right? Well, the good news is Disney is going to make a ton of money off of teenage girls and Once Upon A Time fans, but for those who expect decent acting and dialogue out of a blockbuster, buckle up for a disappointing 97 minutes.

Read more here:

http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2014/05/30/...intentionally-made-a-hilariously-bad-b-movie/

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Ouch. Couldn't disagree more. I personally think that you either like turning a villain good or you don't. If you don't you are going to hate everything about Maleficent. But I loved it and thought it was a good movie.

Also, a large number of the critics that didn't like the movie thought Jolie was absolutely fantastic.

To each their own.

An interesting debate is what makes a good movie? Technical writing, filming, and acting excellence, or a good story that entertains the masses? that can be debated forever.

Everyone should go see it and write their own personal review.

 

[tajz90]

Thought it was great fun. We loved it! Angie was fantastic!

 

[Yellowstonetim]

And now that I think about it, saying that it is a "hilariously bad b-movie" is excessive hyperbole and will result in fans being offended. I think it was a bit much. No matter how you look at it, this was no B-movie and it was not "hilariously bad" to the great majority of those that saw it, critics included. And using such over the top hyperbole is going to generate lots of negative responses, but that goes with the territory. To each his own.

I guess you could say it was a "hilariously poor review."

 

[surferdave]

The pacing of the movie was maddening. I think it must have suffered from some poor editing.

Too many of the plot devices for flipping the story were reminiscent of Frozen (True love's kiss doesn't work! The real love comes from the villain from the fable who is really good! Princess stories don't really need significant male characters, you go girl!). I thought that whatever literary or artistic point they were trying to make by presenting the villain's point of view was overwhelmed by making every other character in the story either completely evil (like the two kings) or barely present or nearly superfluous (like Aurora's mother or Phillip). In fact, the story almost reduces to "people bad, fairies good (but pretty stupid other than the main star, boy were those 3 fairies painful to watch)".

I don't know if all of this was the result of being too eager to feature Jolie and not having time left to develop any other characters, or if they were just not capable of making the antagonist sympathetic (which was apparently their mission) without making the protagonists all one dimensional villains themselves. If they can't accomplish that then I'd rather not see more films like this out of Disney. Unfortunately it's an easy money grab to let a Hollywood A-lister ham it up for 90 minutes as a Disney icon so I probably will.

 

[Penny Pincher]

I saw the trailer and wondered if it was as depressing as it looked, but my friend and her two twin girls (7) saw it this week and absolutely loved it. But then, they're 7. And a harassed, tired mother. So not necessarily the best judge.

Curious about Jolie's comments about the real message of the movie, though.

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

I really enjoyed the movie,but I have to wonder now, is Maleficent still a villain or just misunderstood?

 

[Disneylover99]

I really enjoyed the movie,but I have to wonder now, is Maleficent still a villain or just misunderstood?

She is a villain (because she did curse Aurora) who misunderstood the power of love. But I love her. I just want to give her a big ole hug.

 

[Yellowstonetim]

I really enjoyed the movie,but I have to wonder now, is Maleficent still a villain or just misunderstood?

That is one thing cool about Disney "canon" or any story characters. Disney, and fans, can pick their characters for meet-and-greets or special events from any point in the timeline they want. Many of the villains that show up in parades and parties have died in their stories! Yet there they are and no one complains, "Hey, there dead!" Darth Vader is everyone's favorite bad guy, yet he reformed in the end.

Therefore, Disney can have 3 different Maleficent's if they want: Original animated evil Maleficent, Evil Angie Maleficent, or Reformed & repentant hero Maleficent.

My favorite is always going to be the good repentant hero Maleficent, but I would LOVE to see an evil Angie Maleficent talking and carrying on like in the Christening scene. That would be a hoot!

She is a villain (because she did curse Aurora) who misunderstood the power of love. But I love her. I just want to give her a big ole hug.

Me too! Maleficent is now one my favorite villains, AND one of my favorite heroes.

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

She was always the scariest villains to me. So it was nice so soften her up a little

 

[Natara]

I personally really enjoyed Maleficent, even if it was terrifically flawed. Also, that's a great review! Very thorough and I agreed with a lot of it (not to mention well-written).

My favorite part:

Linda Woolverton was in charge of crafting the script and it is clear that she has finally lost what talent she once possessed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For those of you not familiar with Linda, she is the writer behind Beauty and the Beast, co-writer on The Lion King and helped with story material on Aladdin and Mulan. In the Broadway realm, she adapted her Beauty and the Beast script into the book for the Broadway musical and co-wrote Aida. What talent Woolverton has in writing for animation and Broadway is completely lost in live-action. If you don’t believe me, pay attention to the dialogue in two of her other scripts – Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Yes, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was a box-office smash, but that doesn’t mean it is good.


The script and dialogue for Maleficent is no better than Alice in Wonderland and some of the most cringe-worthy lines I’ve heard uttered in a film come from this movie. Why did Aurora have to say she wanted to live in the Moors with Maleficent and eat “berries and black nuts”? Why couldn’t Linda have chosen any other food? Was Woolverton watching Jurassic Park and channeling Robert Muldoon when she had King Stefan yelling “SHOOT HER” to his men in attempts to take down Maleficent? My guess is Linda decided to just get lazy on this screenplay, but she deserves it – she is the only female writer to have her name solely attached to the writing credits for a film that made over a billion dollars.

I have to admit, I felt the same way. Some of the dialogue was just awful. And the Alice in Wonderland remake was horrendous; I could barely sit through it.

It's amazing to see a writer with so much talent write some things so... amateurish. (Not that I'm saying Maleficent is that bad, but it's far from Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King.)

The pacing of the movie was maddening. I think it must have suffered from some poor editing.

Too many of the plot devices for flipping the story were reminiscent of Frozen (True love's kiss doesn't work! The real love comes from the villain from the fable who is really good! Princess stories don't really need significant male characters, you go girl!). I thought that whatever literary or artistic point they were trying to make by presenting the villain's point of view was overwhelmed by making every other character in the story either completely evil (like the two kings) or barely present or nearly superfluous (like Aurora's mother or Phillip). In fact, the story almost reduces to "people bad, fairies good (but pretty stupid other than the main star, boy were those 3 fairies painful to watch)".

I don't know if all of this was the result of being too eager to feature Jolie and not having time left to develop any other characters, or if they were just not capable of making the antagonist sympathetic (which was apparently their mission) without making the protagonists all one dimensional villains themselves. If they can't accomplish that then I'd rather not see more films like this out of Disney. Unfortunately it's an easy money grab to let a Hollywood A-lister ham it up for 90 minutes as a Disney icon so I probably will.

I agree with all that. Very true.

 

[PrincessMomto2]

Another late viewer of the film I went today with my 10 year old daughter and we both absolutely loved this film. My daughter loved it as well. Can't wait for the DVD to come out.

I'm glad the ending did not include Maleficent's death.

I also love Wicked as well. So guess I'm not a purist that doesn't like the original movie changed. Nothing wrong with that way of thinking either. I just don't fall into that category.

Obviously everyone has their own opinions and that is why we all go to see movies for ourselves. I personally felt the message in this move was good for my daughter. In real life some times things are not so simple or clear. Life is not just black or white but several shades of gray.

Overall like I said we really enjoyed the move.

All I can say is "Well, Well"