Maleficent (2014)

Director: Robert Stromberg

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley

Have I Seen it Before: Never.

Did I Like It: I admire the idea behind the film. Trying to tell the story of a famed villain from their perspective already offers more from a live-action Disney remake than the rest of the (largely money grabbing) genre has managed to generate so far. But there’s more to it than that. If kids can begin to grasp, even if it is on an unconscious level, that the apparent villainy of some might have their own motivations and intentions, then there might be some hope for future generations*.

The execution of the film leaves a little bit to be desired. I’m not sure if Jolie ever actually shared a scene with any of her co-stars. Especially in the early scenes, it is looking an awful lot like Jolie showed up for a few days of green screen work to glower, look bemused, and shout pronouncements to characters several hundred yards away. Things might improve a little bit as the film’s central story kicks into gear, but not a whole lot. It might be an intentional choice to make Maleficent distant from everyone else, but I can’t watch it and not think Jolie lives that distance from the rest of humanity every day.

I might be willing to call that element one of the film’s secret, if tragic, strengths, but other elements aren’t doing the film any favors. Much of the CGI already looks dodgy, further cementing the sinking realization that as time progresses, the half life of special effects only shrinks. That, too, can be forgiven, but the film also is so preposterously weighed down by endless voice over narration. I’d bet a not insignificant amount of money that the narration was added late in the production at the insistence of the studio, as it is as disconnected as Jolie is from the film it inhabits.

*That is assuming that future generations have any amount of disagreements, or even basic human society to enjoy in the years to come… Geez, that footnote got dark.

District 9 (2009)

Director: Neil Blomkamp

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood

Have I Seen it Before: Sure. It’s been a while, probably since it was first released.

Did I Like It: Reactions to some movies will be forever altered by these first few years of the 2020s. Even in its time, this was a great throwback to the sci-fi films of previous decades, which could eschew entirely becoming an action movie by default and still having some kind of intriguing notion at its core. That quaintness has only become more pronounced in the decade-plus since its initial release.

But really, I can’t help but think as I watch this now that if Wikus (Copley) had just bothered to wear his mask (at the risk of appearing, as he so helpfully puts, like a pansy), then none of this would have ever happened.

And that’s where the movie begins to unravel, and indeed, Blomkamp’s entire output takes on a failure-to-launch quality about it. The film is desperately trying to tell two different stories, that of the Prawn’s escape attempt from Earth and Wikus’ transformation from human to alien. The former would have happened without the latter, and the latter has not so much as a conclusion as a stopping point. It might be a wrenching tragedy, but there’s always the hope that the return of Christopher (Cope) might offer him deliverance, or that he may be better off as a Prawn than he was as a human.

This struggle with a dual nature is present throughout the film. Is it a straightforward aliens-on-earth story, or an attempt to forge the found footage/mockumentary genre together where others might have blanched at their fusion? The film honestly seems unsure of which one it wants to be at any given moment. I’m tempted to give the film credit, and say that this disjointed quality thematically echoes its protagonist.

But that might be giving Blomkamp credit for more than he’s actually striving.