Escape to the Movies: Maleficent - An Unusual Fairy Tale of Revenge
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still interested in it though. the trailer alone gave me the impression its a movie you can watch just for fun and from his video, its sounds just like that.
still gonna watch it. maybe some time next week.
still gonna watch it. maybe some time next week.
Wwwwwwwow. OK, this turned out even weirder than I expected. So DARK, although I did kind of infer the "she was tricked, betrayed and lost her wings" aspect from the trailer.
I still probably won't see it (I only very rarely go to the movies, usually only for things I KNOW I'll like) but I hope it does well just for having the balls to be this gonzo.
I still probably won't see it (I only very rarely go to the movies, usually only for things I KNOW I'll like) but I hope it does well just for having the balls to be this gonzo.
Would not advise.tdylan said:
I haven't seen Maleficent yet and likely won't anytime soon but that last stinger at the end with Jafar...was that just Bob being wishful or was there a hint alluding to the next movie...along these lines, being about him? I'm down with that in a big way even though all evidence points to Cinderella being the next Disney live-action...remake...thing.
Okay the "Lovechild of Mae West and Vegeta...on bathsalts." line literally made me spit take whiskey all over my computer. F*ck you Bob, I love you.
Bob... I think you're reading too much into things if you're taking away a "forgive rape/abuse" lesson in there somewhere. Or you need to stop getting opinions from tumblr XD
It's just a bad attempt at the modern trend of dark, gritty fairy tales and giving bad characters a "good" background.
It's just a bad attempt at the modern trend of dark, gritty fairy tales and giving bad characters a "good" background.
People who grew up with Disney and are older nowIckabod said:
People who like dark fairy tales.
People who just like this style of movie.
People who like subversive takes on villains which is fairly popular at the moment.
This question always confuses me. Like there are only 8 or so groups of people who watch movies and they only watch one type? not everything needs to neatly divided into a specific demographic.
I havnt seen the movie yet (I think Im going to wait for dvd) but it seems to me that the second act could have been her transformation from revenge fantasy to truely evil character. The idea that came to my mind was going with the rape revenge story at the start and then have her seek out even greater power to use against the kingdom (the dragon form comes to mind). However going into a traditional power corrupts story along with it. That way it would be the humans that start her down a path of arguably justified revenge but she could essentially fall from grace as she takes her revenge to far and becomes an irreedemable villain in her own right. It would also allow for other characters to be competent in the story and turn her into an even greater badass.
That seems like a much more interesting story to me
That seems like a much more interesting story to me
Okay, I just got back from the movie. I sort of understand why it got mixed reviews, as reviewing this movie will be a loaded topic, but I completely loved it. I disagree about the redemption arc not working (though, as an avid watcher of Once Upon a Time and a fan of Frozen... and next season of OUaT I'm gonna be watching them both at once YES YES YES... what was I talking about? Oh right... anyway, thanks to OUaT, I did see the key twist coming a mile away). The three fairies were the most annoying part of the movie, and I'm glad they got comparatively little screentime, though it did leave me wondering where they were during several of Aurora's scenes, not that I objected to their absence.
Of course, I'm a sucker for bold, confrontational works that genuinely feel risky and ambitious. This is a movie that goes off the rails and does its own thing, and for all its flaws (rushed pacing, some stilted dialogue, the annoying fairies), one thing I can't accuse it of is lacking creativity and purpose. It challenges you, and I like a challenge.
I actually think the film could have been longer. I hope there's a Director's Cut or something at some point, both for additional development and because this movie has some of the most stunning art design I've seen in a blockbuster in eons and I'd like to see more of it. Oh yes, did I mention that this movie is absolutely gorgeous?
Of course, I'm a sucker for bold, confrontational works that genuinely feel risky and ambitious. This is a movie that goes off the rails and does its own thing, and for all its flaws (rushed pacing, some stilted dialogue, the annoying fairies), one thing I can't accuse it of is lacking creativity and purpose. It challenges you, and I like a challenge.
I actually think the film could have been longer. I hope there's a Director's Cut or something at some point, both for additional development and because this movie has some of the most stunning art design I've seen in a blockbuster in eons and I'd like to see more of it. Oh yes, did I mention that this movie is absolutely gorgeous?
I haven't seen it yet, but from the things I've read they wanted to end things on a fairly high note, so the idea is that the second act is needed to set up her attempts at redemption. The idea being that Maleficent is bad, but had reasons to be, and eventually gets perspective and tries to set things as right as she can. The interpretation I've been hearing is less that she's supposed to be charmed by Aurora, but the realization that she's hurting innocents which she see's through her.Jofe said:
Or to put it into perspective, Bob talks about her losing her wings as an analogy to rape. If she had pretty much stormed in and done terrible things to him and his armies directly, that would have been it. She could have then sort of gone back to defending the forests and so on. Justice would be served. However when she takes it to the extent of "I'm going to declare myself queen of all evil, and take revenge on the entire kingdom, and multiple generations of this family" that's sort of going too far and she eventually realize it.
Sort of like how I was raped by an older kid while in residential facilities as I've mentioned before. Opposing the gay rights movement is one thing, as would tracking this guy down if I ever divulged his identity. On the other hand if I started setting bombs during gay rights parades that would be taking it too far. Maleficent lacked this perspective, but sort of gained it in the context of this story. Not a great analogy (and no I'm not going to argue it and derail the thread) but it's a personal way of expressing it.
I'll probably see it eventually, and find out how close what I'm hearing is. Honestly though unlike Bob I'm not entirely sure that this was that huge a risk for Disney as they seem to have been interested in doing darker stuff and subverting a lot of their tropes in general. Not to mention that they probably noticed the success of things like "Once Upon A Time" and despite it's initial failure how "The Tenth Kingdom" gained a sort of cult following, to say nothing of "Wicked", "Tin Man", and other material. Disney probably put a lot of thought into this move, and it was carefully premeditated, they aren't exactly on the bleeding edge of a trend that's been going on for a long time now. What's more with the way the political winds are blowing Disney has been trying to get away from it's "traditional American values" reputation and try and walk a line that will get them the most money with the least criticism. Back in the days of "Uncle Walt" where Disney tried to stay away from anything remotely controversial and keep everything upbeat, friendly, and positively conservative, it's leaned increasingly towards "anything for money" and even maintains alternate labels (I believe Miramax and Dimension might be owned by Disney for example, I don't remember their exact labels, but I'm tired) in order to produce more adult movies, including very violent, edgy, movies and horror fare. It's perhaps most surprising that they did this under the Disney label as opposed to using another one of the heads of their hydra to minimize risk.
Ooh, I like this idea. Turn the Lion King's Mufasa into a Hitler style figure and start the film with the racist Hyena genocide and expulsion. Scar is the horrified hero who tries to protect them because he understands the role of scavengers in the circle of life and does not believe, like the rest of the lions, that they are dirty creatures that undermine the natural order by their very existence.Uriel_Hayabusa said:
I would totally see that!
"the lovechild of Mae West and Vegeta... on bath salts"
Dammit Bob, now I actually kind of want to see this movie for that performance alone...
Dammit Bob, now I actually kind of want to see this movie for that performance alone...
I could see Scar... but Gaston would be a little redundant as he's already a subversion of a heroic archetype to show the uncomfortably regressive and possessive machismo that can come with it, plus he's already an impressively nuanced antagonist, not quite a villain, but someone so enamoured with their own self-image of the hero that they'll do monstrous things out of ignorance and a sense of entitlement to the woman he sees as a prize.Uriel_Hayabusa said:
Beauty and the Beast is all about things not being quite what they appear on the surface, and if you reverse that and retell it with flipped morality, then it's just another dime-a-dozen tale of a heroic man defeating a monstrous creature and getting the damsel as prize, yawn. Or at best, a story of the "villain" winning.
Likewise, Frozen was also a revisionist retelling, casting the snow queen not as destructive villain for the sake of villainy, but someone forced to hide their true nature and unwittingly causing harm to others because her parents mistook repression for self control, the villains in that are more banal and arguably more realistic than an ice-magi out to lock a kingdom in eternal winter just because.
We have a slimy ignorant businessman all too keen to lash out at a perceived threat to his trade routes, and a spoiled noble looking to secure his own kingdom by playing at being prince charming, if we reverse that... then it's just another prince charming against another maleficent in the original Disney take on Sleeping Beauty, which is a story that's already been told many, many times.
That's the point of these revisionist reversals, to tell new stories because the old ones are getting rather worn out, and indeed, have some unfortunate or downright unpleasant undertones. the fact that this particular retelling stumbled into unfortunate implications of its own is a rather cruel irony.
Damn. Angelina Jolie is still pretty damn hot. I have always liked Angie. And I'm glad to see her in a good movie again. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, Tomb Raider was awesome. Probably the only good VG to movie adaptation.
Mae West, Vegeta, bath salts. Got it. Color me more than interested. I was going to see this anyway because Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie, but damn. This sounds awesomely bizarre. Great review Bob. Thanks man.