There have been vanity projects for artists before in the movies. It is a tradition as old as the medium. Rarely do they come off well. In fact, the usual definition of a vanity project is that it usually sucked, that's why no one made it before a certain artist of substance found it, fell in love, and set about moving mountains to get it done. Usually something that is labeled a vanity project is media shorthand for something that really stinks and the Avenue of Broken Dreams is filled with such stink bombs like: Battlefield Earth, Swept Away, Glitter, Gigli, Under The Cherry Moon, Harlem Nights, The Postman, Bolero, and most recently, After Earth. Hardly any star has not had at least one. However, if they're good, they're labeled Star Vehicles, which include such films as: The Alamo, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Niagra or even Die Hard and Pulp Fiction. In each case, the main actor is the centerpiece of the film and it was made specifically with that actor(ess) in mind, or at least once it was made, you couldn't imagine anyone else playing it. Maleficent, I would argue falls into the latter category, but could easily have been in the first.
Just about anyone born after 1955 can tell you the story of Disney's Sleeping Beauty, based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. We all know the beautiful princess Aurora, born to King Stefan, was cursed by the the evil faerie Maleficent when she was born. She is wakened by love's true kiss from Prince Philip after he slays Maleficent when she turned into a dragon and they live happily ever after. But is that the real story? Maleficent says no. In the grand modern tradition of retreading old stories so they fit on conveniently into new (usually feminist) sensibilities, Maleficent offers a new, and I think quite fresh, take on the whole Maleficent story. It argues that Maleficent is misunderstood. She was angry at past slights from King Stefan, and in a moment of pure vengeance and hate, she curses the innocent Aurora to a horrible fate she did not deserve. Maleficent watches over her throughout her life, first with disdain, then ambivalence, to finally love. In fact, Maleficent, like the great Frozen before it, uses love as its central theme.
I myself remember seeing the original Sleeping Beauty when I was about 4, but I can't place the year because it was rereleased in 1970, the year I was born, so I must have seen it in a second-run theater or something. But what I do know is the damn film should have been rated R, because Maleficent scared the living bejeezus out of me. She was the first villain I ever remember being truly terrified by, the stuff of my nightmares. Because of this, Maleficent has always occupied a special place in my heart because she was so influential in my life and ideas. So I went into Maleficent with a great deal of expectations, because when I saw the first pictures of Angelina Jolie as the titular villain/heroine, I was instantly rapt. If ever there was casting perfection, it is Angelina for this role. I cannot imagine anyone else playing her save Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. But unlike her hatchet-faced features, Angelina's striking, almost angular beauty and grace infuses Maleficent with an almost regal air which gives the film added weight. With any role, actors bring their baggage with them, the presuppositions an audience has toward them, and Angelina's gravitas in Hollywood is crucial for this movie to work, and boy does it ever. This movie is all about her, and it works beautifully.
That said, it is nowhere near perfect. I have two big complaints with the movie, and they aren't the myriad differences between Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent. Yes, it is a not-so-thinly-veiled environmentalist picture, but what did you expect? This is Hollywood, and if they can find some way to whine about the despoiling of Mother Earth, they will jam it in somehow; it is almost instinctive by now, so I just say, as stupid as it is, get over it. But I do have a problem with the script. I hope it is only suffering from post-production editing, because if it isn't, it feels like it was written by a twelve-year-old. It lurches from one scene scene to the next very unevenly. It also ends a little too cleanly and abruptly, almost as if they didn't realize the story was over and they had to wrap up the last ten pages of the script in two sentences. The other issue I had was with the forest creatures. They are supposed to be cute, but are singularly unoriginal and frankly, kind of creepy. Imagine Dobby from the Harry Potter franchise and put fur on him. That's what they look like. I don't know what the makers were going for, but they failed utterly. However, the Forest and the faeries themselves have an almost sinister, dark beauty which is very effective.
As I said, the central theme is love, but maybe not exactly the kind of love you were expecting, and this is the saving grace of the script. It is very well executed and quite effective. A word of advice, the 3D doesn't substantially add to the experience, so save some money and watch it in 2D. It is perfectly fine entertainment for the whole family, but I suspect younger viewers may be scared of some of the imagery, particularly Maleficent herself. So parents, you may not want to take your younger kids to this film or you may scar them for life. I know I was.
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