Geek of Oz

Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play. Director: Joachim Ronning (Kon-tiki, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales) Starring: Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Ed Skrein and Harris Dickinson. So five years ago (that hurts to type) I remember coming out of Maleficent with a resounding sense of apathy. You can check out what I mused here , but basically I found it to be a misstep for Disney. Jump cut to today and I’m back, smack bang in the apathy jacuzzi again. Soaking up all the wasted time and resources of a staggeringly lacklustre film. Now don’t get me wrong I’m a Disney baby through and through. Give me that castle animation and stirring rendition of Wish Upon a Star intro any day of the week. But, even with my mouse tinted glasses on, I can’t...

Maleficent can only be described as a clumsy attempt by Disney to pull the old switcheroo with one of their iconic villains. I’m trying to pinpoint when it started, but villains nowadays seem to require sappy back stories about when they were actually good guys, who through some kind of personal tragedy turned to evil. Needless to say, Wicked has been arrested and is currently being interrogated. Maleficent is a frustrating kind of affair, in that Angelina Jolie is so deliciously wicked; I wish she had a better sandbox of a film to play in. Sadly this falls closer to Snow White and the Huntsman when it needed to be Pan’s Labyrinth. Billed as “The story you never knew” behind Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is set in a far off land which is divided rather crudely into the worlds of men and magical critters. We meet Maleficent, a fairy child who pretty much frolics about, appreciating the wonders of life and generally being a super-positive pain in the ass. Her world is forever ch...