As a revisionist piece, Maleficent explores the backstory of Sleeping Beauty's infamous villain, adding some welcomed dimension to the character. However, the overall presentation ends up being less fresh than what the premise suggests, and it isn't nearly as wickedly intriguing as what the trailers display.
The towering, awesomely horned central focus (aka "The strongest fairy of them all") is played solidly by Angelina Jolie. She possesses a majestic, commanding presence in this role, even though the screenplay calls for a few too many blood-curdling screams that come off as unintentionally funny. And unfortunately, she's surrounded by weak subplots that are filled with generic characters.
The film has a cringe-y campy aura about it. Opening scenes display some imaginative creature designs that are fun to look at, but after a while, the CGI overload kicks in, and the problem is that it's more cartoony than innovative. The enchanting score, at first, is a nice touch and expected element from this Disney film, but there are so many moments when the cues become overbearing.
Maleficent is a noble effort on the main character front, and it twists some tropes, but the execution disappointingly falls into bad, forgettable fantasy territory.
4.5/10
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