Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Maleficent

Angelina Jolie

Very fine re-telling of the Grimm Bros. story Snow White. The first half hour is an imaginary backstory which posits the evil queen as a winged fairy whose task it was to guard the fairy kingdom and whose wings were stolen by a wicked ambitious man she once loved.

The world created here in CGI is, at its best, equivalent to what James Cameron did with Avatar; a bright colorful place with outlandish foliage and fantastical creatures all living in harmony. The human world in contrast is made of stone...isolated from nature.

This story has been re-imagined several times recently - most notably in Pablo Berger's brilliant Blancanieves. This isn't at that level but is a wonderful example of what a creative team can do with a one-page folk tale.

7

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