Wow, did Maleficent really come out five years ago? I wrote favorably about that first film back then, so I was in fact looking forward to the sequel, even as I find that I am very much over Disney's live action remakes (The Lion King was the last straw for me, and I think I'll only manage to watch Lady and the Tramp on a day when I'm sick in bed, if even then). The thing is, Maleficent isn't exactly a retelling--it's its own story.
The first film was the story of a woman who was hurt by a man. The cutting off of her wings was essentially thematic of rape. Her inner world turned dark and she made the outer world around her dark, too--until she was able to find hope and love again with Aurora as her daughter. What I love about that first movie is that it went in with a very specific story and theme that they wanted to tell. Substance and not too much fluff.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil brought in a tad more fluff. It flowed more like an average movie, not as streamlined as the first. However, it still brought in a wonderful expression of that same theme from before.
The first movie showed Maleficent's turning point. She decided to choose love over vengeance--goodness over evil. We saw her choice. The second movie showed the, What now? A choice generally isn't something we choose once and never again. A choice that has to do with lifestyle and beliefs is a choice that we make every day. And no matter how good our choices might be, there will still be outside forces that try and attack us and get us to go back on our choices.
Maleficent meant well. She truly had come to love Aurora. But she was still in pain, still unable to trust, and still unable to believe that she and Aurora would be better off dwelling on forgiveness over vengeance. Queen Ingrith did mean ill against Maleficent--but the greatest ill that Maleficent almost let her make against her was to make her like her. Maleficent nearly (and did for a time) meet evil with evil. That helps no one.
She learned by the end how to take that pain and finally let it go, finally stop letting it control her actions. Yes, Stefan hurt her and stole from her, but she learned that she was still her own person, capable of choosing for herself who she wanted to be. He did not choose for her; he did not make her into a creature of pain and agony and revenge.
I would feel remiss not to mention Diaval's role. The crow has turned into Maleficent's counselor and guide. He was her wings and now he's her translator, not just telling her what's going on but also suggesting to her what it all truly means and how she ought to react to it. And the new outfit suited him quite well, too.
So while I would call this movie more wandering and less focused, it remained enjoyable and the theme remained stellar. Don't believe what people tell you that you are. You are what you choose for yourself; that is your choice, not theirs. Don't let the pain of the past steal from your present or your future. If they say that you are the Mistress of Evil, then let that mean that you command the Evil to leave, not that you promote the Evil. Make the good choice and live the good choice every day.
Showing posts with label Maleficent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maleficent. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Maleficent
If you haven't seen the movie yet, yes, there will be some spoilers.
Fairy tales, as they used to be written, were more about stark contrasts between good and evil, with different characters or places representing either side. Nowadays, however, we're tired of such strict morals and need the story to feel more personal by having the conflict take place within the same character or place--that's why so many characters are written as being neither strictly good nor evil. We need to see how a single character can be when he chooses to act on the good or on the bad.
Maleficent was built around this difference between then and now. In many ways, it echoes Disney's original animated movie; the gifting scene even borrows lines directly from it. But it isn't simply an exact rendering of the movie from animation to live-action, and I think they found a good balance between familiarity and newness. The main character who exemplifies the good/evil conflict is, of course, Maleficent. She stands in contrast to Stefan, who faces the same conflict but handles it differently.
Much of this is nothing new. We've seen villains turned into sympathetic characters. We've seen true love mean other kinds of love than romantic (in Frozen and Once Upon a Time). But this movie was still a rather sweet retelling of the importance of choosing love over bitterness. Stefan abandoned love for greed and power. Maleficent, hurt by his malice against her, refused to believe in love anymore and sought vengeance. Then she, through watching Aurora, began to love again--while Stefan, consumed by guilt and the fear of losing his power, let his rage and violence grow even more. Somehow, the final conflict between Maleficent and Stefan was very much like the final sequence in Sleeping Beauty, where Philip must take on weapons of virtue in order to slay the dragon of evil.
The movie kept us guessing nicely about how the conflict would be resolved. We all know the story already, but this version was different. Maybe Philip would come in and break the curse, or maybe not. For a moment, I thought it might be Diaval, but then there was too much of an age difference there. I did think it might be Maleficent, but then they brought in Philip and so I thought that it must be him, after all. But, no, this movie presented true love not as something fated by destiny but as something that must grow. Philip and Aurora liked each other right away and possibly do have a future together. But their love had not grow yet. Maleficent, by taking care of Aurora and spending time with her, had cultivated love. She came to love Stefan's daughter the way he, who never spent any time with her or cared at all to get to know her, never would.
While the Moors did have a bit much of a Dr.Seuss/Bridge to Terabithia/Avatar look, the character arcs in this story made up for it. This role really was perfect for Angelina Jolie--and the scenes with baby Aurora were marvelous. Maleficent reminded me of Morgan le Fay from the King Arthur legends and Mystique from X-Men, maybe with a dash of Mary Poppins. One of my biggest complaints was the cover of "Once Upon a Dream" for the credits. I love that song, but that version was terrible. After watching the movie and feeling pretty favorable about it, it was such a shocker to hear that song and want to quickly run out of the theatre.
End credits song aside, Maleficent brought into balance the familiar elements of Disney's animated tale and a more modern approach to conflict. With this wave of fairy tales, I'm now looking forward to seeing Cinderella next year (especially after looking at the cast and crew list).
Fairy tales, as they used to be written, were more about stark contrasts between good and evil, with different characters or places representing either side. Nowadays, however, we're tired of such strict morals and need the story to feel more personal by having the conflict take place within the same character or place--that's why so many characters are written as being neither strictly good nor evil. We need to see how a single character can be when he chooses to act on the good or on the bad.
Maleficent was built around this difference between then and now. In many ways, it echoes Disney's original animated movie; the gifting scene even borrows lines directly from it. But it isn't simply an exact rendering of the movie from animation to live-action, and I think they found a good balance between familiarity and newness. The main character who exemplifies the good/evil conflict is, of course, Maleficent. She stands in contrast to Stefan, who faces the same conflict but handles it differently.
Much of this is nothing new. We've seen villains turned into sympathetic characters. We've seen true love mean other kinds of love than romantic (in Frozen and Once Upon a Time). But this movie was still a rather sweet retelling of the importance of choosing love over bitterness. Stefan abandoned love for greed and power. Maleficent, hurt by his malice against her, refused to believe in love anymore and sought vengeance. Then she, through watching Aurora, began to love again--while Stefan, consumed by guilt and the fear of losing his power, let his rage and violence grow even more. Somehow, the final conflict between Maleficent and Stefan was very much like the final sequence in Sleeping Beauty, where Philip must take on weapons of virtue in order to slay the dragon of evil.
The movie kept us guessing nicely about how the conflict would be resolved. We all know the story already, but this version was different. Maybe Philip would come in and break the curse, or maybe not. For a moment, I thought it might be Diaval, but then there was too much of an age difference there. I did think it might be Maleficent, but then they brought in Philip and so I thought that it must be him, after all. But, no, this movie presented true love not as something fated by destiny but as something that must grow. Philip and Aurora liked each other right away and possibly do have a future together. But their love had not grow yet. Maleficent, by taking care of Aurora and spending time with her, had cultivated love. She came to love Stefan's daughter the way he, who never spent any time with her or cared at all to get to know her, never would.
While the Moors did have a bit much of a Dr.Seuss/Bridge to Terabithia/Avatar look, the character arcs in this story made up for it. This role really was perfect for Angelina Jolie--and the scenes with baby Aurora were marvelous. Maleficent reminded me of Morgan le Fay from the King Arthur legends and Mystique from X-Men, maybe with a dash of Mary Poppins. One of my biggest complaints was the cover of "Once Upon a Dream" for the credits. I love that song, but that version was terrible. After watching the movie and feeling pretty favorable about it, it was such a shocker to hear that song and want to quickly run out of the theatre.
End credits song aside, Maleficent brought into balance the familiar elements of Disney's animated tale and a more modern approach to conflict. With this wave of fairy tales, I'm now looking forward to seeing Cinderella next year (especially after looking at the cast and crew list).
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