Maleficent (Live-Action)

[DisneyJedi]

Maleficent made about $24 million on opening Friday.

... Oh, come on! Even Alice in Womderland did somewhat better numbers on its first day in theaters!

[Musical Master]

Maleficent made about $24 million on opening Friday.

... Oh, come on! Even Alice in Womderland did somewhat better numbers on its first day in theaters!

Still better than what was expected, now that's good news in my book.

[DC Fan]

Hey. At least the Marvel films do their best to be superhero movies.

And I´m not saying they´re doing wrong. Of course not.

However, have you read comics? At least gave them a try?

If you do or had done so you´d see that in the comics really complicated/mature stuff happens. Sometimes to the point where if you were going to give it a movie rating you´d have to go with R.

I´m not saying to make R rated movies but don´t go the other way as well. The Disney take (especially) on their movies is so cut and clean that ends up being formulaic.

As said, the way Disney handles everything.

And yet still I´m amazed that since forever, when you mentioned Disney, it was so family friendly that from young adults to adults were thrown off by the movie they were about to watch. And now? Everybody loves whatever´s done.

[Disney's Divinity]

I haven't seen Snow White and Jack the Giant Slayer, so I don't have an opinion of those. But I disagree that Alice and Oz stink. I like those a lot more than Maleficent.

That makes me scared to see it, since I thought Alice, SWatH, and Oz were all really bad barring their villains. It's strange how they all have the same good quality...; although I guess I should clarify that I mean Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Rachel Weissz as the Wicked Witch of the East, and Charlize Theron as the Queen, since I didn't care for that other witch in Oz. (I wonder if Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett might be joining this group soon.) Of course, we've disagreed a lot before, so that leaves me...hopeful?

I plan to see it this week, ideally while the children are still in school.... (Thank you, long winter!)

[DisneyFan09]

But I disagree that Alice and Oz stink. I like those a lot more than Maleficent. I thought Oz was an imaginative trip to Oz and I liked how it expanded on the Wizard and especially the witches and I thought Finley and the China Girl were great secondary characters. Unlike Maleficent, I didn't get a fan-fiction vibe from "Oz: The Great and Powerful." Ditto Alice in Wonderland, which while it could have been more nonsensical, I still felt Tim Burton gave it his usual creative touch and I liked following Alice's journey.

I haven't seen "Oz" yet, but I really liked "Alice in Wonderland". It was a good movie with good music, consistent pace and action.

[pinkrenata]

I hope that friends are checking out Luke's review as well.

http://www.dvdizzy.com/maleficent-film.html

(Don't forget to like and share on Facebook! )

[estefan]

Maleficent made about $24 million on opening Friday.

... Oh, come on! Even Alice in Womderland did somewhat better numbers on its first day in theaters!

It's being projected to make about $71 million on its opening weekend, based on its Friday numbers. That puts it almost on-par with Oz: The Great and Powerful and much higher than Snow White and the Huntsman. Family movies always have a big uptick in business on Saturday, so it could even end up with more than that once the final weekend figures come in. I'm sure Disney will be pleased with that number and it will probably do very well overseas as well.

[Old Fish Tale]

I saw 'Maleficent' and I hated it! It was nothing more than a very long chronological trailer. And the writing was so bad. What a way to waste good actors.

[Atlantica]

I saw 'Maleficent' and I hated it! It was nothing more than a very long chronological trailer. And the writing was so bad. What a way to waste good actors.

That's a shame ! Did you like Oz or Alice?

[Old Fish Tale]

I loved 'Alice in Wonderland', but I thought 'Oz, the Great and Powerful' was a mediocre film.

[Musical Master]

I loved 'Alice in Wonderland', but I thought 'Oz, the Great and Powerful' was a mediocre film.

That is a shame, I though Woolverton's writing in this one was not only WAY better than Alice in Wonderland, but it's a thousand times better than the leaked script. But at least we can agree that Cinderella is going to be really good; seeing that teaser in theatres is just so breathtaking on the big screen.

[Old Fish Tale]

Why was it better, in your opinion? There wasn't much dialogue to begin with. And the narration (I still love you, Janet) helped it feel like I was seeing an excessively long trailer. And unlike 'Alice in Wonderland', the acting or the directing didn't overcome the imperfections of the writing. Everyone kept doing more of the same. It was so uninteresting. And, yes, 'Cinderella' is in better hands, thank God!

[mariadny]

Maleficent is like a really bad Fan-Fiction

[Musical Master]

Why was it better, in your opinion? There wasn't much dialogue to begin with. And the narration (I still love you, Janet) helped it feel like I was seeing an excessively long trailer. And unlike 'Alice in Wonderland', the acting or the directing didn't overcome the imperfections of the writing. And, yes, 'Cinderella' is in better hands, thank God!

I'll do my best to answer that in simpler terms. The reason why I think that Linda Woolverton's writing in Maleficent is better than Alice in Wonderland is because it hardly uses the cliches which Alice used a lot (and that's just not good storytelling, it's just laziness). Alice's hero's destiny and war story never gelled as what Burton and Woolverton were hoping for and not to mention that while Alice as a character is interesting on paper, Mia was all sorts of wrong for the role and so was Depp. In Maleficent, there is no mention of a hero's destiny (which is everywhere in movies nowadays) and all the actions that happen to Maleficent (and the actions she would do later) are just that, things that happen because of fate (not because she was destined to do so). Not to mention that unlike Snow White and the Huntsman the twist of Maleficent's kiss on Aurora's forehead awakening her was a "true love's kiss" that was earned, the final battle and the ending's payoff was something I personally loved.

Woah that wasn't "simple" at all.

[Old Fish Tale]

In Maleficent, there is no mention of a hero's destiny (which is everywhere in movies nowadays) and all the actions that happen to Maleficent (and the actions she would do later) are just that, things that happen because of fate (not because she was destined to do so).

I'm sorry, but didn't you hear how the narration ended? "In the end, my kingdom was united not by a hero or a villain, as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain. And her name was Maleficent.".

[Musical Master]

In Maleficent, there is no mention of a hero's destiny (which is everywhere in movies nowadays) and all the actions that happen to Maleficent (and the actions she would do later) are just that, things that happen because of fate (not because she was destined to do so).

I'm sorry, but didn't you hear how the narration ended? "In the end, my kingdom was united not by a hero or a villain, as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain. And her name was Maleficent.".

That's the thing, "not by a hero or a villain as legend has predicted" could mean that destiny was wrong and it was fate that took Maleficent on the path to be those things. Besides to me, the narration was an afterthought and Woolverton didn't write that in.

[Old Fish Tale]

But it was mentioned...

[Musical Master]

But it was mentioned...

Yes it was mentioned but it didn't drive the story and characters of Maleficent, while in Alice in Wonderland it was the driving force of the film.

[candydog]

I didn't read the leaked script when it first surfaced as I didn't want to spoil the movie for myself. I just read it now, and actually thought it was much, much better than the final film!

[DisneyJedi]

I didn't read the leaked script when it first surfaced as I didn't want to spoil the movie for myself. I just read it now, and actually thought it was much, much better than the final film!

What?? Why?!