Maleficent
(2014/Disney
Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A-/B Sound: B+/B Extras: B- Film: B
Disney
in recent time has gone back to the 'wishing well' many times;
resurrecting old material to reimagine it for a new generation.
After successes like The
Pirates of the Caribbean series,
Alice
in Wonderland,
and a few others Disney has banked on older properties to peak
viewers' imaginations. This is a formula that has (mostly) worked
and continues to work here with the release of Disney's Maleficent
(2014).
Maleficent
follows
the retelling of the classic tale of Sleeping
Beauty,
originally credited to Charles Perrault or The Brothers Grim;
depending if you are reading the French or German telling
respectively. In reality the tale is even older than that, dating
back to the 14th
Century. This is to suggest that the tale of Sleeping
Beauty has
been told many times before, in many different ways over the past 700
years; so Disney revamping a classic is nothing new.
This
telling borrows elements from other renditions, but stays firmly
rooted in 1958 Disney animated classic; keeping it family friendly,
but giving a new perspective. Whereas in the original animated film
audiences mostly were seeing the tale through the eyes of Aurora
(i.e. Sleeping Beauty), in this 2014 rendition things are turned
upside down as we see Maleficent's (Angelina Jolie) side of the
story.
Maleficent
is a
film directed by Robert Stromberg (who worked on Tim
Burton's Alice in Wonderland and
OZ the
Great and Powerful)
and a screenplay by Linda Woolverton (who also wrote Beauty
and the Beast and
The
Lion King screenplays).
Rather
than being the one dimensional evil
queen
as seen in the animated film; Stromberg and Woolverton give
Maleficent a backstory and motive. The film (narrated by an elderly
voice) starts us off in the Moors, a magical place inhabited by
fairies, found bordering the human realm. Here a young peasant boy
named Stefan befriends a young fairy named Maleficent. Stefan wishes
to one day rise to power and live in a castle; a wish he expresses to
Maleficent. Their relationship develops into 'true love,' but with
time Stefan stops seeing Maleficent; he becomes a servant to the king
and her a protector to the Moors. Eventually the king seeks to
overtake the Moors, but Malificent defeats the king, fatally wounding
him and causing his retreat. The king promises any man that kills
Malificent shall be the successor to his kingdom. Stefan (Sharlto
Copley) sees an opportunity, he visits his old love only to drug her
and clip her wings; bringing the wings to the king as proof he had
slain Maleficent. Stefan inherits the kingdom as Malificent is left
crippled and bitter by the betrayal of her former love. Maleficent
develops into a cold, oppressive ruler of the Moors; who will
eventually seek revenge on Stefan.
On
the day of his daughter's (Aurora) christening, Maleficent arrives
uninvited to place a curse on the child that she on her 16th
birthday would prick her finger on a spinning wheel, placing her in a
deathlike slumber. Stefan begs for his daughter's life; seeing the
opportunity for irony, Maleficent says the curse can only be broken
by true
love's kiss.
Maleficent would spend the following years leading up to Aurora's
(Elle Fanning) 16th
birthday watching her from afar as she was guarded by three
(bumbling) fairies. Something strange happens, however, as
Maleficent watches the girl grow, something that could change
everything...
This
retelling of Sleeping
Beauty is
quite admirable and imaginative. The story flows nicely and though
Angelina Jolie CLEARLY steals the show, the other actors do a fine
job. The CGI is a bit obvious at times but is used appropriately and
adds that fantasy flare that practical effects probably could not.
I
thoroughly enjoyed the film and feel that Maleficent
itself
could stand the test of time to entertain many future generations.
The
technical features on this new Disney Blu-ray are very well done.
The picture is presented in a 1080p, AVC encoded, MPEG-4, 1080p 2.40
X 1 widescreen presentation that is visually stunning and near
perfect. Certainly demo quality, the image is finely balanced with
bright, but restrained colors that pop off the screen. The black
levels are admirable as the film spends much of its time in the
shadows; dancing between blue hues and dark inky blacks that display
without artifact or other issues. The image is crisp, clean and
clear throughout; and whereas not the best presentation I have seen
from Disney, it is close to. The sound is a 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio
that doesn't display as nicely as the picture despite being a Dolby
Atmos 11.1 theatrical release where available, but remains solid.
Directionality is well done as armies march across the screen, with
swords clanging and arrows flying. Dialogue is crisp and clean; not
obscured by the splendid musical score, both projecting in fine
balance. I found the bass a bit heavy at times, but nothing overly
distracting.
The DVD and Digital
copies are merely downgrades of the excellent Blu-ray release.
The
bonus material is average at best; not being overly revealing or
insightful as it comes off as purely promotional. There are a few
gems and an admirable amount of material for the first (non-3D)
release. Extras include:
Deleted
Scenes. Here we are treated to (5) deleted scenes that truly would
have added depth to the film and its characters; which is not often
the case with these. In this case, they are short clips that would
not have extended the film by much, but would have fleshed out some
unanswered questions.
Maleficent
Revealed
Classic
Couture
Aurora:
Becoming a Beauty
Building
an epic Battle
From
Fairy Tale to Feature Film
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
