My Review: Maleficent (6/10)

"Listen well, you all! The princess will indeed grow in grace and beauty. But before the sunset on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and she will fall into a sleep like death!"

Maleficent isn't a masterpiece and it actually has several flaws, but it was much better than I had anticipated considering the latest failed attempts at bringing a beloved classic fairytale to the big screen through live action. Snow White, Jack the Giant Slayer, Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, all failed in their adaptations so I didn't have high expectations for Maleficent. They all seem to share something in common which is that they always incorporate a spin on the classic tale, and Maleficent is no exception as there is a big twist to the familiar story. They played it safe with the twist in Maleficent, and it was rather cliche, but it worked nonetheless. Despite not being a huge fan of this genre I decided to give this film a shot because I was looking forward to Angelina Jolie's comeback (her previous starring role in a feature film was in 2010's The Tourist alongside Johnny Depp). Jolie doesn't disappoint and she carries the entire film giving a strong performance. Many complained that they wished the film would've centered more on her character as a villain than a hero, but I actually enjoyed the duality in her performance and the struggle she faces while dealing with her betrayal. She owns this movie, but it didn't hurt that the she had a strong cast to work with; I loved Elle Fanning in her role as Aurora, Sharlto Copley as the ambitious King (if there was ever a film in which he could go overboard with his character this was it, but strangely he played it safe here), and of course I can't leave out Sam Riley who was great as Diaval. Perhaps I enjoyed this film more than others because I went into it with fairly low expectations, but compared to other recent fairytale adaptations this film is superior and one I'm sure the new generation will appreciate.

Maleficent is a retelling of Disney's classic animated film, Sleeping Beauty, although this time the screenplay written by Linda Woolverton centers on the villain. The film begins by introducing us to the young fairy named Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) living an ideal and peaceful life in the Moors, which is full of magical creatures. On the other side of the Moors lies the human kingdom which is ruled by an ambitious King. One day Maleficent is warned by the forest guards that they have caught a human trying to steal a jewel from the Moors. Maleficent discovers that the thief is actually a boy named Stefan (Michael Higgins), who she kindly asks to return the jewel. She then escorts him out of the Moors, but when he returns the two bond and become good friends. As time passes the two fall in love, but their relationship doesn't last long once he becomes ambitious. The film jumps forward many years and now we follow the adult Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) as she continues to protect the Moors from King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) and his army. The adult Stefan (Sharlto Copley) happens to be serving the King now, and he and his men are ordered to kill Maleficent. Whoever does so will become his successor to the throne. Stefan heads to the Moors to warn Maleficent of the king's intention, but blinded by his ambition to become king he betrays her. This turns Maleficent's once pure heart into one full of hate and a desire for revenge. When Stefan becomes King, Maleficent curses his newborn infant Aurora and claims she will fall into a sleep like death once she turns 16 and only a true love's kiss will be able to break the curse.

The best thing Maleficent has going for it apart from Angelina Jolie's lead performance and the strong ensemble cast, is the fact that it was directed by Robert Stromberg who has a strong record as a production designer. Despite the fact that this was Stromberg's first feature film he has a lot of experience in the art direction department (actually winning two Oscars for his work in Acatar and Alice in Wonderland). Maleficent looks great and the art direction may be it's best asset. The visual effects and the fantastical creatures of the Moors are stunning. The screenplay may have its flaws and the story may fall into a predictable and cliched final act, but it always looks great. This may be yet another case of style over substance, but the cast elevate the material and make this a much better film than it has any right to be. The weakest elements of the film for me involve the portrayal of the three fairies who are tasked with taking care of Aurora and raising her. Those comedic moments felt a bit forced and the characters didn't have much substance to them. However, the scenes that Maleficent and Aurora share together are solid as Jolie captures the inner struggle she faces when she's confronted by Aurora's innocence and beauty. Sam Riley also shares some great scenes alongside Jolie and those were the best moments of the film for me. The film does suffer from a slow introduction and a weak final act, but the middle act was really strong and that is why I actually enjoyed Maleficent.

My Review: Layer Cake (7/10)

¨Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will all be legal. I´m not a gangster. I’m a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine.¨

Layer Cake is the film that made Hollywood turn its eyes on Daniel Craig to become the next James Bond. Despite playing an anti-villain in this film, he displayed several qualities that we actually see in some of his recent roles as Bond. If it weren’t for Layer Cake, I can´t imagine Craig being considered for the role. But Layer Cake wasn’t just a breakout role for Daniel Craig; this was also Matthew Vaughn´s directorial debut. Vaughn who had previously produced some of Guy Ritchie´s work including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch was heavily influenced by his directing style and Layer Cake is living proof of that. After the success Vaughn had with this film he went on directing different projects like Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men First Class, which in my opinion were superior to Layer Cake. In Layer Cake I felt, Vaughn took a lot of things from the British criminal genre that Ritchie made famous, but in his next movies he was able to break free and try new things. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time with this crime thriller, but I felt like it didn’t stand out from the rest of the films in this genre besides Craig´s superb performance. The film requires its audience to play close attention to the story because several things are happening at once and at times I felt the pace of the film was a bit rushed. There were way too many things going on to fit everything in a 100 minute movie. The screenplay was based on J.J. Connolly´s successful novel.

The story centers on a cocaine dealer who considers himself a businessman and not a gangster. He´s working as sort of a middle man between the underground wholesalers and street dealers. He´s not named, but the credit roles call him XXXX (Daniel Craig). XXXX is a very intelligent and cautious businessman who knows what he´s doing, but happens to work for very dangerous people who sometimes get him into trouble. He´s planning on retiring from the business, but before he can do so his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) asks him to locate Charlotte Ryder (Nathalie Lunghi), who happens to be the daughter of another powerful underground mob leader named Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). XXXX works alongside with Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris) who watches his back, but he also has two other employees who work for him: Clarkie (Tom Hardy) and Terry (Tamer Hassan). Everything gets complicated for XXXX when a group of junkies steal two million pounds worth of ecstasy pills from a wholesaler named Dragan (Dragan Micanovic) and he´s forced to find and give back the drugs. The person who stole the drugs is Duke (Jamie Foreman), and he´s not willing to give them back. While Duke´s hiding out, XXXX encounters his nephew and ends up falling for his girlfriend, Tammy (Sienna Miller), making matters even worse. XXXX will soon find out that the British mob is like a cake which consists of several different layers.

The film has so many characters and different thing going on at the same time that it’s very difficult to follow everything. Layer Cake is a bit too complicated and messy, but it is still a great crime thriller in which Daniel Craig gives a very solid performance. The rest of the characters don’t get too much screen time. Sienna Miller is much underused here and her character doesn’t bring much to the film. I love Tom Hardy as well but he has almost nothing to work with here and goes unnoticed as well. Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney give the best supporting performance in my opinion, but the rest of the cast is totally forgettable. We´ve seen many crime thrillers and this one doesn’t stand out from the rest. It is above average but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion. I love Vaughn´s films, but this is probably my least favorite film of his.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/