What makes “Maleficent” the worst Disney live action remake of an animated classic is that the premise is so undeniably delicious and the finished product so utterly bland. In updating 1959’s animated masterpiece “Sleeping Beauty,” the filmmakers decided to tell the story from the point of that film’s iconic antagonist (now played, with gleeful devilishness, by Angelina Jolie). That is a GREAT IDEA. Unfortunately the movie is totally boring and stylistically inert (an even greater crime considering how gorgeous the animated original is), directed with little flair by first timer Robert Stromberg (a production designer who was promoted after Tim Burton rightfully passed). One of Disney’s biggest hits, it’ll get a sequel later this year with “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Whatever.
Leave a Reply