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

Elysium

MPAA/Content R [AC, AL, SV]

Distributor TriStar Pictures

Technical HD 2.40:1

Genre(s) SCI THR

Runtime 109 mins.

Country USA

Budget $115M

 

CAST

Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, William Fichtner, Emma Tremblay & Faran Tahir

 

CREDITS

Director/Screenwriter: Neill Blomkamp;  Producers: Bill Block, Neill Blomkamp & Simon Kinberg;  Director Of Photography: Trent Opaloch;  Production Designer: Philip Ivey;  Editors: Julian Clarke & Lee Smith;  Costume Designer: April Ferry;  Music Composer: Ryan Amon

 

THE SYNOPSIS

In the year 2154, the planet Earth has become a crime-ridden, overpopulated wasteland.  The prevalent class are the 99%-ers who toil in factories or commit crimes to survive.  Hundreds of miles above lies Elysium—a space station paradise that caters to the other class: those very wealthy (and completely oblivious) 1%-ers who enjoy their privileges in style, pomp and comfort.

Elysium enjoys this life of Reilly thanks to the elegantly-austere Defense Secretary Delacourt (Foster)—a cold, efficient politician who’ll think nothing of having immigrant Earth shuttles shot down before they can crash-land on her domain.  On Earth is her diametric opposite, a worker bee named Max (Damon)—who’s always looked to the skies above and dreamed of one day living on Elysium.

One fateful day, Max is irradiated while on the job and given only days to live by his superiors.  Risking everything…even a relationship with his former childhood sweetheart Frey (Braga), he and his criminal buddy Julio (Luna) visit the local warlord Spider (Moura), another former associate—who hatches a plan to get Max to Elysium—as well as devise a way to crack its code so that everyone can go to the celestial paradise and get in on the good life.

Retrofitting the dying Max with a bionic exoskeleton that invigorates him, the small band of rebels kidnap the cruel CEO of Max’s former company, John Carlyle (Fichtner) to force Delacourt to play ball—with deadly consequences (the two were in cahoots).  She lets loose her cyborg henchman Kruger (Copley)—who lays waste to most of the rebels, including Julio.

Miraculously, Max makes it Elysium—only to discover that the calculating Kruger and his mercenaries have kidnapped Frey and her ailing young daughter Matilda (Tremblay) and brought them there as bait.  A violent battle of wits commences as double-crosses and sacrifices are made on Elysium as Max meets his destiny.

 

THE CRITIQUE

Deriving its name from the Ancient Greek term for paradise or heaven, ELYSIUM is the sophomore directorial effort of rising South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp—who made a splash with his Hollywood feature debut District 9 (2009)—also starring Sharlto Copley (his long-time friend & collaborator).

It is a science fiction film drenched in real-life current affairs and makes no secret of it, thanks to writer/director Blomkamp —who infuses grim futurism with modern social issues ala Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982)…albeit with a more subtler approach than the Socialistic slant of the Expressionistic masterpiece and decidedly less Depression/Bauhaus-style gloss of the cyberpunk forbearer.  The screenplay brings up many unanswered questions –which are addressed in an excellent article written by those folks over at Film School Rejects.  Check it out.

Blomkamp brings visual flair to the proceedings and directs a game cast with the proper modicum of respect for their talents.  Star Matt Damon (Oscar^®-winning co-screenwriter of Good Will Hunting [1997]) brings to his role as the put-upon everyman a blue-collar sensibility and moral compass—which is par for the course in terms of Damon’s career trajectory of late.  Shaving his head and pumping up his body—however—this is a far cry from the usual roles, too.  Rumor has it that Blomkamp originally offered the starring role to Marshall “Eminem” Mathers—that’s right, Slim Shady himself!  He turned it down because the filmmakers would not shoot in his hometown of Detroit—which, by the way, already looks like the grim future of 2154.  Go figure…

Supporting cast holds up well—with Brazilian actor Wagner Moura’s anti-hero warlord revealing empathetic goals to good effect.  Fellow Brazilian Alice Braga (daughter of famed actress Sonia Braga) brings necessary pathos to an underwritten part while great character actor William Fichtner (always a joy to hiss at) is robbed of a bigger (and meatier) role in the plot.  His smarmy CEO gets a comeuppance that most people (in a post-Enron world) would probably like to see happen in real life!  I’m just sayin’…

Surprisingly, the always-reliable Jodie Foster (Oscar^®-winner for The Accused [1988] & Silence of The Lambs [1990]) has a rather two-dimensional part as one of the antagonists.  Her icy politician has the right motivations (as cruel & elitist as they are)—but lacks the depth of character true villains like Star Wars’ Darth Vader (portrayed by David Prowse & voiced by James Earl Jones), Star Trek’s Khan Noonien Singh (the late, great Ricardo Montalban) or SS Lt. Amon Goethe (Ralph Fiennes) in Schindler’s List [1993] all possess.  A damned shame…

On the other hand—and playing a character diametrically opposite of his milquetoast Afrikaner bureaucrat in the oft-mentioned District 9—Copley lets loose in the Michael Ironside-esque role of the sociopathic super-soldier/ henchman Kruger.  Really, he does channel the scary Ironside in Paul Verhoeven’s dystopic Total Recall (1990).  My only problem with the character is the psychotic about-face this supposed professional assassin does in the film’s third act (ultimately an issue with the writing, not the acting).

Tech credits and VFX are top-shelf across the board for this $115 million production.

Kudos to District 9 cinematographer Trent Opaloch for creating an appropriately-monochromatic, HD-widescreen palette of Earth’s grim future.  While I am not enamored with the use of HD cinematography (call me a celluloid junkie), in this case—it is prudent.  It’s photographic antithesis for the sequences on Elysium itself works as well as the HD process intensifies the sterile environment to great effect.  By the way: the filmmakers used the prolific RED Camera system that I have become an HD fan of in recent times.

Kudos also to District 9 production designer Phillip Ivey for creating the opposite-spectrum worlds of Los Angeles (shot on location in Mexico City) and Elysium (shot in a Vancouver studio).  Rooted in the mise-en-scène is an uncomfortable, Third World geo/socio/political landscape combined with Elysium’s sterile, Apple Store visual schema—the latter courtesy of famed futurist Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens)—who, per ELYSIUM’s production notes—was brought in during pre-production to help visualize the celestial station.  My guess is that he went into Apple’s retail store and picked up an iPad or something and became inspired…or something!

Sharp cutting by veteran editors Julian Clarke (District 9, The Thing [2011], The Whistleblower) & Lee Smith (The Dark Knight, Inception, X-Men: First Class), cyberpunk costuming by veteran designer April Ferry (Donnie Darko, Maverick, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) and top-notch VFX provided by Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital all elevate Elysium to a better level—regardless of its writing issues.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

ELYSIUM is a noble attempt at extrapolating the grim future of the world’s 99%-ers.  While obvious plot holes and weak story structure numb the message down, it is not a total loss.  Awesome technical facets, solid direction, lead Matt Damon’s earnest performance and cool VFX make this one a good attempt.  It may not be the heaven of yore, but at least ELYSIUM earns its trip to the very front of those pearly gates.

 

IMDB:               http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/

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

Official Site:     http://www.elysium2013-movie.com/