Maleficent

Distributor:         Walt Disney Studios

Year:                    2014

MPAA:                  PG

Content:               AC, V

Genres:                FAN/FAM/DRA

Technical:            2.40:1 (HD)

Runtime:              97 mins.

Country:               USA

Language:            English

Budget:                 $180M

 

CAST

Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Brenton Thwaites, Kenneth Cranham & Hannah New

 

CREDITS

Director: Robert Stromberg; Screenwriter: Linda Woolverton; Producer: Joe Roth; Director Of Photography: Dean Semler; Production Designers: Gary Freeman & Dylan Cole; Editors: Chris Lebenzon & Richard Pearson; Costume Designer: Anna B. Sheppard; Music Composer: James Newton Howard

 

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

Maleficent is a young faerie who lives in the magical forest realm known as The Moors. She falls in love with human boy Stefan, but their respective kingdoms are at war. Years later, Maleficent (Jolie) defeats the forces of King Henry (Cranham)—to which he decrees that any man who can destroy Maleficent will earn his kingdom as prize. Ambitious and cunning, the grown Stefan (Copley) rendezvous with Maleficent under the pretense of courtship and drugs her. He steals her magical wings (without killing her) as proof of her death and eventually becomes King.

Enraged, Maleficent magically reworks the Moors into a kingdom of Darkness and converts a human man, Diaval (Riley), into a raven for nefarious purposes. The bird informs her that King Stefan has married Henry’s daughter Leila (New) and that they now have a daughter, Princess Aurora. At the christening, Maleficent appears and curses the child to everlasting sleep on her 16^th birthday by cutting herself on a spinning wheel. Only a kiss from Aurora’s true love will set her free. To protect his child, Stefan sends her into the woods with three pixies—pink Knotgrass (Stauntion), green Thistlewit (Temple) & blue Fittle (Mannville)—until the Princess turns 16.

Despite early distaste for the baby Aurora, Maleficent becomes quite fond of her as the years pass. Now almost 16, Aurora (Fanning) is a beautiful and vibrant young woman who thinks of Maleficent as her faerie godmother. She meets the strapping young Prince Phillip (Thwaites) and becomes smitten. Maleficent wants to revoke her curse—but cannot, as Destiny has a way of playing things out for the Princess, Maleficent and Stefan.

 

THE (mini) REVIEW

Directly based on the classic villainess of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959), Maleficent is a big-budget, handsomely-produced endeavor that stumbles though a clunky narrative, some bad casting (Ms. Jolie aside) and dull direction courtesy of first time helmer and Oscar^®-winning VFX maven Robert Stromberg (back-to-back winner for James Cameron’s Avatar [2009] and Tim Buton’s Alice In Wonderland [2010]. I was expecting a spectacle of fantasy on par with the recent (and superior) Snow White & The Huntsman (2012)—directed with more panache by Rupert Sanders. Instead, we get what is essentially a rape drama cloaked in Disney brand melancholia. WTF? Did Lars von Trier kidnap the entire production?

Part of the blame lies in the ambivalent screenplay written by Disney veteran scribe Linda Woolverston (Beauty And The Beast, The Lion King, Alice In Wonderland)—which she adapted not only from the ’59 Disney classic, but also from Franco-Anglo “Sleeping Beauty” stories dating back to the 1600s. What is the point of building up Maleficent as a nasty character if you’re merely going to turn her character arc in a complete 180º turn towards syrupy benevolence? And the aforementioned rape drama (young Maleficent’s wings are clipped after she’s been roofied by her supposed love, Stefan) inserted into the story? Not very appropriate for a Disney family flick, wouldn’t you say?

The other part of the blame falls on director Robert Stromberg’s head. No offense, but VFX folks don’t always make good directors (though editors usually do)—and Maleficent is treated as one big VFX & marketing bonanza instead of a potentially terrifying and fulfilling fairy tale that seems to lurk just below the story’s surface. As I understand it, Stromberg received uncredited help from veteran director John Lee Hancock (2002’s The Rookie, 2004’s The Alamo, Saving Mr. Banks) and probably learned how to direct a big-budget movie in the process.

Regarding the cast, the lovely Angelina Jolie steals the movie as Maleficent—decked out in hot black leather and slinking her way through the role she was born to play. Yummy. The only thing missing was a black leather whip to complete the wicked ensemble…but then again, this is a Disney picture, right? The rest of the cast—with the exception of young Thwaites (vapid) and Copley (miscast)—turn in good performances, with Riley earning props as the half-man/half-raven lackey character with a conscious.

Production values for this $180 million (boxofficemojo.com) epic are top-shelf across the board—and really the movie’s saving grace. The entire production was shot at the famed Pinewood Studios near London, England—with exterior forest sequences lensed in the bucolic region of Buckinghamshire. Kudos must go to first-time production designers Gary Freeman (Art Director for Sunshine, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, 47 Ronin) & Dylan Cole (Concept Artist for Alice In Wonderland, TRON: Legacy, Oz The Great And Powerful) for creating the gorgeous sets (40 in all) and bringing the faerie kingdom The Moors to life.

Veteran Aussie cinematographer Dean Semler (Oscar^®-winner for Dances With Wolves; also lensed The Road Warrior, Waterworld, Apocalypto, 2012) furnishes the movie with a handsome HD-widescreen palette of deep blacks, earthy greens and the occasional candlelight orange—courtesy of the ARRI^® Alexa Plus camera system fitted with PANAVISION^® Primo^® lenses (giving the imagery a robust look). However, given the accolades I’ve just heaped on the cinematography, I am still disappointed that Semler and his director opted for the HD package instead of the tried-and-true 35mm film option. By shooting Maleficent on film, they would have captured the surreal/otherworldly schema of fairy tale movies—such as Alex Thomson’s masterful lensing of Excalibur (1981; dir: John Boorman) and Legend (1985; dir: Ridley Scott). But, as it stands with the HD process, at least those Primo lenses spiff up the proceedings in this movie.

I though that master make-up artist Rick Baker’s design of Maleficent’s features are terrific—and it should be, considering he’s won 7 Oscars^® (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000711/awards?ref_=nm_awd) over the years. The make-up complements Maleficent’s aforementioned hot leather visage courtesy of veteran costume designer Anna B. Sheppard (Schindler’s List, Inglorious Basterds, Captain America: The First Avenger), along with the other visual tropes of medieval/fantasy costumery.

Smooth editing by veteran cutters Chris Lebenzon (Top Gun, Batman Returns, Alice In Wonderland, Dark Shadows) & Richard Pearson (Bowfinger, Men In Black II, The Bourne Supremacy, Quantum Of Solace) compliment a robust score by prolific composer James Newton Howard (Pretty Woman, Waterworld, I Am Legend, The Hunger Games Saga).

It is apparent that the technical aspects of Maleficent far outweigh its narrative virtues—which is a darn shame. This movie could have become a modern masterpiece of fairy tale storytelling—dark, decisive and encapsulated with its own intrinsic grandeur. Instead, we are given a dark story that Disney and the filmmakers water down for mass consumption. I’m pretty sure that Maleficent herself would whip me for saying so (bedazzled in that hot black leather ensemble, of course). Yep, I can only hope…

 

 

 

IMDB:                    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficent_(film)

Official Site:          http://movies.disney.com/maleficent

The Smurfs 2

 

MPAA/Content PG [AC, V]

Distributor Columbia Pictures

Technical HD 1.85:1

Genres FAM/FAN/COM

Runtime 105 mins.

Country USA

Budget $105M

 

CAST

Live Action: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Jayma Mays & Jacob Tremblay

Voices: Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, Jonathan Winters, JB Smoove, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, John Oliver, Frank Welker, Tom Kane, Fred Armisen, Jeff Foxworthy, Alan Cumming, Gary Basaraba, Adam Wylie, Joel McCrary, Kenan Thompson, Kevin Lee, Paul Reubens, Shaquille O’Neal, B.J. Novak, Jimmy Kimmel, Shaun White, Mario Lopez & John Kassir

 

CREDITS

Director: Raja Gosnell; Screenwriters: J. David Stem & David N. Weiss and Jay Scherick & David Ronn and Karey Kirkpatrick;  Producer: Jordan Kerner;  Director Of Photography: Phil Méheux;  Production Designer: Bill Boes;  Editor: Sabrina Plisco;  Costume Designers: Rita Ryack & Véronique Marchessault; Music Composer: Heitor Pereira

 

THE SYNOPSIS

Three years after the smurfploits in the original movie, the evil wizard Gargamel (Azaria) creates two new Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties: Vexy (Ricci) and Hackus (Smoove)—who are sent to Smurfland to kidnap Smurfette and bring her to his new lair in Paris, France.

Apparently, Gargamel has become a famous and successful wizard—thanks to the shrewd managerial skills of his sentient cat Azrael!  It’s up to Papa Smurf (Winters), Grouchy Smurf (Lopez), Clumsy Smurf (Yelchin) and Vanity Smurf (Oliver) to journey through their magic water tunnel and reach out to their friends Patrick & Grace Winslow (Harris & Mays) in NYC for help.

Grabbing their young son Blue (Tremblay) and Patrick’s amiable stepfather Victor (Gleeson), who tags along, our heroes head to Paris to rescue Smurfette from the kooky Gargamel—who plans on harnessing the Smurfs’ essence to take over the world.  The City of Lights gets lit up as the virtues of love, family & Smurf Power saves the day!!

 

THE CRITIQUE

In a million years, when all is said and done and some alien lifeform arrives on our planet to analyze the Earth’s Human Race, what they’ll probably uncover are Cokeâ bottles, Facebook and yes…the Smurfs.  These enlightened, advanced beings will deduce that the Human Race loved sugared water, online yapping and those little blue people.  Pack up the ships, fellas—Earth’s a lost cause!

Seriously, I’ll be the first to admit that those little smurfing bastards possess a certain naïve charm that has granted them six decades of popularity—and yes, I even watched their syndicated cartoons back in the early 1980s.  Created in 1958 by the late Belgian comics artist Peyo (le nom de plume of one Pierre Culliford), the Smurfs have enjoyed a popularity matched only by The Beatles, Elvis and Pope John Paul II…and yes, Coca Colaâ.

Come to think of it, Belgium can hold credence to outputting not only the Smurfs—but also frites, Jean-Claude Van Damme and terrific Neuhaus chocolate.  Not too shabby!  Anyway, I digress…

THE SMURFS 2 brings back the cast and crew of the 2011 original for more blue shenanigans.  Helmed with easy aplomb by veteran director Raja Gosnell (The Smurfs, Big Momma’s House, Scooby-Doo), the movie is already pre-sold on the Smurfs’ name and plenty of wacky physical comedy to boot.  Having already mined these attributes in the original Smurfs movie (and others of the ilk), I could almost say that Gosnell is helming on autopilot—but the dude has a strong track record with these fluff movies.

The movie’s screenplay is credited to five (count ‘em!) different writers.  First up is the veteran writing duo of J. David Stem & David N. Weiss—responsible for co-writing The Smurfs, Shrek 2, Are We There Yet? & Daddy Day Camp.  Next up is the veteran writing duo of Jay Scherick & David Ronn—responsible for co-writing The Smurfs, National Security, I Spy & Guess Who.  Lastly, there’s veteran scribe Karey Kirkpatrick—responsible for writing Chicken Run, James And The Giant Peach, The Little Vampire & The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

I write out this laundry list of accomplishments because among these five writers is a cadre of hilarious and successful movies that serves as pedigree.  So why is it that THE SMURFS 2 feels rote and undisciplined?  While the original movie was no masterpiece of Cinema, it felt fresher…and did not suffer the agony of the live-action version of Garfield (2004).  At least the writers were smart enough to change the Earthbound setting from New York City to Paris as a way to freshen things up—so there’s one smurfing plus.

More griping: why introduce all of the Smurfs in Act I only to separate a mere handful to carry the rest of the movie?  That was frustrating—but I will elaborate further on this a few paragraphs below.  I guess I am expecting too much from a family movie that does indeed check off most of the appropriate boxes.  Still, it still smurfs me off!

At least the cast is game, with Hank Azaria (as the slimy wizard Gargamel) stealing the movie with dead-on characterization and plenty of nasty bon mots.  From what I’ve read via the production notes, Azaria was given plenty of wiggle room to come up with some zingers—and it shows.  He’s the best human actor in the movie.  Returning as the leads are versatile actors Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays—both of whom sadly become marginalized in their (mostly) reactionary roles—and given less to do than the first go-around.  Luckily, veteran Irish actor Brendan Gleeson provides some welcome empathy as Harris’ underappreciated but amiable stepfather.

If you read the above roster of Smurf voices, you’ll see a plethora of talented actors/actresses who bring character and energy to their roles.  It’s too bad that 95% of them are sidelined for almost the entire movie!  Big props go out to the late, great Jonathan Winters—who voiced Papa Smurf for one last time before passing on to that big TV sitcom in the sky.

THE SMURFS 2 was shot on location in Paris, France and on soundstages in Montreal, Canada.  Production values for this $105 million production are top-shelf—with a special shout-out going to Sony Pictures Imageworks for their seamless VFX and realization of the CGI Smurfs in the three-dimensional “film” space.

Credit veteran British cinematographer Phil Meheux (The Smurfs, Casino Royale, The Mask Of Zorro, GoldenEye) for bringing some classy HD lensing to the production.  Disclaimer: this gentleman happens to be one of my favorite cinematographers currently working in the business.  Good cutting by veteran Sabrina Pilsco (The Smurfs, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Sky Captain And The World of Tomorrow) and solid production design handled by veteran Bill Boes (The Smurfs, Fantastic Four, Scooby-Doo) also elevate THE SMURFS 2 an extra star on my scale.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

THE SMURFS 2 is goofy entertainment squared directly at toddlers, children and people who love those little smurfing bastards.  A pedantic, been-there-done-that veneer hangs over the proceedings, but luckily—a game cast, seamless VFX and some Gallic culture gives this blue roux some flavor.  Not great Cinema (by any means), but a smurfing good time will be had by most—especially little blue people…who probably like Coca Colaâ.

 

IMDB:             http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2017020/

Wikipedia:     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smurfs_2

Official Site:   http://www.smurfhappens.com/site/