Maleficent

[Loki882]

Villains who are just evil for the sake of it (with VERY few exceptions) are just boring and uninteresting to me. You can have a character be complex and multi-dimensional, and still have them be a villain at the end of the day coughLokicoughZodcoughMagnetocough. I think that it's not so much making her not evil as giving context to that evil. Maybe she wasn't always evil, but circumstances drove her down the dark path until she became evil. She's still a villain, she's just got a little more motivation than "I wasn't invited to a party, so I'll murder a child." That idea sounds, well great to me.

 

[Thundercrack85]

And if folks watch the trailer again, they'll notice the psychotic smile she has when she talks about malevolent emotions.

 

[Arach Knight]

Maleficent is a great villain, so I'm not too keen on her being "misunderstood". Showing her fall from grace would be fine, but I don't want the good guys being made out to be the bad guys and bad guys into good guys.

But aren't all great villains misunderstood people to some degree? The Joker and Carnage are arguably the only two exceptions, as both of them exist purely for the sake of creating mayhem and misery. However, when it comes to the Joker, efforts have been made to paint the Joker as misunderstood (read: The Killing Joke by Allen Moore).

Villains aren't the bad guys just because. They are often the bad guys because of a disagreement in how to go about a particular idea. Doctor Doom for instance is egotistical and a dictator. However, when given the opportunity when transported to 2099, Doom was elected President of the World, which attenuated his need to go out and conquer. Power was handed to him and as a result, he was a quasi-benevolent leader.

Magneto seems like the villain to his victims, but to those he defends, Magneto is a godsend. While humans are anathema to Magneto, he loves mutant kind and will do just about anything to defend them. So to mutants, Magneto may be a bit of a messiah. That Magneto is the victim of persecution from the holocaust also gives rise to understanding how Magneto became so hostile. After seeing one group of people he belongs to, being tortured and massacred, eh refuses to allow it to happen again to another group he belongs to. You can really sympathize with Magneto's desires while loathing his methods.

So why is it that doing the same for Maleficent is somehow a bad idea?

 

[kvz5]

Jolie's going to have a great year between this and Unbroken. One for the GA and one for the awards crowd.

 

[Loki882]

But aren't all great villains misunderstood people to some degree? The Joker and Carnage are arguably the only two exceptions, as both of them exist purely for the sake of creating mayhem and misery. However, when it comes to the Joker, efforts have been made to paint the Joker as misunderstood (read: The Killing Joke by Allen Moore).

Villains aren't the bad guys just because. They are often the bad guys because of a disagreement in how to go about a particular idea. Doctor Doom for instance is egotistical and a dictator. However, when given the opportunity when transported to 2099, Doom was elected President of the World, which attenuated his need to go out and conquer. Power was handed to him and as a result, he was a quasi-benevolent leader.

Magneto seems like the villain to his victims, but to those he defends, Magneto is a godsend. While humans are anathema to Magneto, he loves mutant kind and will do just about anything to defend them. So to mutants, Magneto may be a bit of a messiah. That Magneto is the victim of persecution from holocaust also gives rise to understanding how Magneto became so vile.

So why is it that doing the same for Maleficent is somehow a bad idea?

And Magneto's even more complex because while he distrusts humanity as a whole, he's perfectly capable of working with individual humans and respecting them. Heck his daughter Polaris came about because he had an affair with a HUMAN woman.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I agree, villains with no depth, or range of emotions can be rather dull. Hell the only thing I liked in the Disney movie Hercules was Hades, because he was kind of likable (being voiced by James Woods goes a long way too).

 

[Lord]

Some can, but this is freaking Maleficent, Angelina Jolie is just perfect for the role, give a good mood and there you have a good villain that is not "misunderstood".

And a villain can be complex and also evil, you don't need to make all of them sympathetic, look at the Joker, Hannibal, Palpatine or the main Nazis from either Schindler's List or Inglourious Basterds. It's all about what you do with that villain, in Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent was relativelly one dimensional but still very entertaining and interesting, it was all due to the design and mood they gave, as well as the film's unique vision.

Turning a villain into a misunderstood person can fail as easily as a villain that is not.

 

[#root]

This doesn't look very good, not a fan of Maleficent suddenly being a misunderstood anti-hero, and seems like it's following the cliched structure that's being used for modern Fairy Tale movies like Oz and Alice where everything has to end with an army vs army a la Lord of the Rings.

Yeah I hope that's not how it ends. But Maleficent does have her wings in those scenes and she says she's lost them. So maybe it's at the start and she loses them during that battle. Atleast I hope that's what happens. The end might be the Prince fighting the Maleficent in dragon form.

Btw, that reminds me that we still haven't seen the Prince.

 

[Loki882]

Some can, but this is freaking Maleficent, Angelina Jolie is just perfect for the role, give a good mood and there you have a good villain that is not "misunderstood".

And a villain can be complex and also evil, you don't need to make all of them sympathetic, look at the Joker, Hannibal, Palpatine or the main Nazis from either Schindler's List or Inglourious Basterds. It's all about what you do with that villain, in Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent was relativelly one dimensional but still very entertaining and interesting, it was all due to the design and mood they gave, as well as the film's unique vision.

Turning a villain into a misunderstood person can fail as easily as a villain that is not.

Yeah but Maleficent was ONLY enjoyable due to the voice actress. If they had gotten a less talented VA to do the voice, my god would she have been a boring character. She'd have been Malekith from TDW, only even LESS fun to watch. There's nothing intrinsically interesting about her in that movie, her entire motivation is being peeved at not being invited to a freaking party. Oh and the Joker is not a complex character whatsoever. Also, there's a reason why most people prefer Vader over Palpatine. Also, she was a supporting character in that movie, she's the MAIN character here. There has to be more to her character, or the movie doesn't work.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Why they show dragon?

 

[Lord]

Yeah but Maleficent was ONLY enjoyable due to the voice actress. If they had gotten a less talented VA to do the voice, my god would she have been a boring character. She'd have been Malekith from TDW, only even LESS fun to watch. There's nothing intrinsically interesting about her in that movie, her entire motivation is being peeved at not being invited to a freaking party. Oh and the Joker is not a complex character whatsoever. Also, there's a reason why most people prefer Vader over Palpatine. Also, she was a supporting character in that movie, she's the MAIN character here. There has to be more to her character, or the movie doesn't work.

It's because she was so f****d up the reason she was such a joy to watch, you can have a villains be a misguided person due to where that person came from, or whatever, but completelly changing her into an anti-hero and the true hero? What of the original heroes? Now it looks like it's gonna be the King who's the one dimensional villain, However, he doesn't have as great a design or personality.

And voice actress? In my country the film isn't even in english and the character is still awesome.

 

[dark_b]

IMO the best villains are the ones who belive in what they are doing. this is more important than having a tragic origin. i dont need to feel sorry for them.


i need to understand their point of view.

 

[Octoberist]

I agree, villains with no depth, or range of emotions can be rather dull. Hell the only thing I liked in the Disney movie Hercules was Hades, because he was kind of likable (being voiced by James Woods goes a long way too).

I don't know. I think Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty) could be the exception where she's so evil that it's entertaining.

 

[Octoberist]

Saw the new trailer and it looks…good.

 

[seridrl]

The Russian trailer for Maleficent has a few different scenes in it.

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And also a Tv promo from ABC that aired during Pretty Little Liars.

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Some new bits in both. I think in the TV spot there is a shot of her post wing removal maybe.

 

[ares834]

Not a fan of Maleficent being turned into a misunderstood character.

The raven turned into a dragon? Did I see that right?
Was hoping Maleficent would.

Same. But if Maleficent turns into a dragon I hope she looks very similar to her classical animated design.

 

[Majik1387]

I don't see how showing her backstory is turning her into a misunderstood character. She doesn't look it at all in the trailers to me, more like a character seeking some sort of revenge or eye for an eye type of thing. I didn't see anything sentimental or anything on her end.

 

[terry78]

Even if she was slighted or had something done to her, it's going to come off as disproportionate retribution either way.

 

[green]

Im not sure if people have read the synopsis for the movie but…

From Disney comes "Maleficent"—the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic "Sleeping Beauty." A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

 

[Hunter Rider]

New Spot!

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=116817

 

[X Knight]

Raven!!

 

[green]

20 minutes screened at Disneyland.
Video at the source, spoilers…sort of.

http://www.slashfilm.com/maleficent-preview-video-blog/

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Im not sure if people have read the synopsis for the movie but…

I did not know this, nor does that sound like a great idea.

 

[terry78]

I think that's just to throw people off. You see in that clip in the trailer where she's talking about hatred and revenge and gives that little gasp and sigh, then smiles immediately afterward. I suspect she's just giving her own interpretation but in reality has always been evil.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I don't know about the "always evil" thing. Not after listen to the slashfilm video. I am guessing a tragic figure now, which I honestly don't know how to take. It is Maleficent, she's evil.