Maleficent

[Lord]

Maleficent is evil, not every villain needs a tragic story to be interesting IMAO. Plenty of great villains that are just evil, Maleficent herself in Sleeping Beauty was one of these, that's why after all these years she has become so popular.

 

[Teelie]

Giving a villain backstory makes them not one-dimensional which is a nice change of pace from they're evil and that's all there is to it.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Maleficent is evil, not every villain needs a tragic story to be interesting IMAO. Plenty of great villains that are just evil, Maleficent herself in Sleeping Beauty was one of these, that's why after all these years she has become so popular.

I agree, which is why I am not sure how to take this info.

 

[Lord]

Giving a villain backstory makes them not one-dimensional which is a nice change of pace from they're evil and that's all there is to it.

That doesn't need that you need to give them a backstory as an happy go go person who was caught by misfortune, you can make somebody arrogant and vain, yet 3 Dimensional at the same time. In this film it actually seems like they're making her the real hero of the story, with the king as the bad guy, turning him into the one dimensional villain you were talking about.

 

[Teelie]

No one's saying she was the happy go go person who got a bad break and went evil. There is more than one way for someone to turn dark.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

No one's saying she was the happy go go person who got a bad break and went evil. There is more than one way for someone to turn dark.

That is most certainly what the scenes described and and summary imply. Hence her tragic figure status.

 

[Teelie]

The way I read it she starts out pure hearted but becomes darker and ultimately becomes Maleficent after a prolonged time culminating in her being betrayed. She didn't have one thing happen, it was a build up over time.

Still better than she's just evil for the sake of being evil. But it's a fairy tale and so there's this presumption on yours and other's parts that everyone is strictly good or strictly evil so I don't think it's going to satisfy you no matter how they do it.

 

[Silvermoth]

I wonder if that means it'll be a done in one type film. Everything about it feels franchisy to me but I can see why they would want to spread it out

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The way I read it she starts out pure hearted but becomes darker and ultimately becomes Maleficent after a prolonged time culminating in her being betrayed. She didn't have one thing happen, it was a build up over time.

Still better than she's just evil for the sake of being evil. But it's a fairy tale and so there's this presumption on yours and other's parts that everyone is strictly good or strictly evil so I don't think it's going to satisfy you no matter how they do it.

I like all kinds of tales, but Maleficent's beauty has always been in her purity. She isn't Darth Vader, she is the Joker (Nolan style), the devil, a force of nature. Here they are attempting to give her a "reason" to be bad. To make her sympathetic. You don't need to sympathize with Maleficent. She is Maleficent.

It is very clear that the focal point of her problem is going to be the king, her former love. That is about as cliched as it gets.

 

[The Endless]

It's like Michael Myers. Carpenter's version had no explanation for his evil. And it made him all the more frightening and unique.

Zombie tried to humanise and make us sympathise with the character. Wrong. That isn't Michael Myers.

There is ways to make villains compelling without having to humanise them. Countless examples.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Didn't they do the same thing to the Wicked Witch of the West? She's not evil just misunderstood.
And I hope they don't put Elle in armor and try to turn her into Joan of Arc in 5 mins.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Pretty awesome tv spot imo.

[YT]Oyrfn2NLF98[/YT]

 

[Hunter Rider]

^^^ I'm loving the visuals.

 

[Tymminator]

^^^ I'm loving the visuals.

Yeah, it looks very good.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

^^^ I'm loving the visuals.

I agree. It had the potential to look rubbish, but I think they pulled it off quite well.

 

[dony2012]

What a pleasant surprise. Great movie! It's nothing like Oz or Alice or SWATH. All thanks to a good story and Angelina Jolie's AMAZING performance that hold the film together and don't let him crash.

 

[Lord]

The visuals actually look pretty generic, to be honest.

 

[Donnie Darko]

I wonder if that means it'll be a done in one type film. Everything about it feels franchisy to me but I can see why they would want to spread it out

I'm assuming it is just a one shot, since I think they are turning the whole "Disney Villains" idea into a franchise of sorts, showing live action origins of their most famous bad guys. I could be wrong about that, though.

 

[Incarnadine]

The early trailer made it look like they were trying to make Maleficent sympathetic, but the later trailer seems more along the lines of her being truly evil.

One of the reasons Maleficent has been considered one of, if not the best Disney Villain is that she was she pure evil. No tragic backstory and no feeling sorry for herself, she enjoyed being evil, she reveled in it. It was simply who she was.

 

[terry78]

I think this movie may be a case of unreliable narrator, where she's telling the story but from her own pov. To her, everyone else was evil.

 

[Rowsdower!]

LOL, I just watched the final trailer for this. The movie looks great but what is with that awful voiceover? That guy sounds like he should be narrating trailers for the Asylum.

 

[X Knight]

y'know what I'm really digging............all the Raven stuff!!

 

[Loki882]

The early trailer made it look like they were trying to make Maleficent sympathetic, but the later trailer seems more along the lines of her being truly evil.

One of the reasons Maleficent has been considered one of, if not the best Disney Villain is that she was she pure evil. No tragic backstory and no feeling sorry for herself, she enjoyed being evil, she reveled in it. It was simply who she was.

No, the reason why she's so popular is because of:

1. The voice-actress and her portrayal.

2. Her visual design.

She is NOT popular simply because she's one-dimensionally evil. Heck, even people who like the movie frequently say "her motivation sucks and she's not really all that interesting as a character, but the actress is great and she looks cool/has cool powers." And the simple fact is that you have to flesh her out if she's going to be the protagonist of a two-hour+ long movie (as opposed to a ninety-minute animated one where she only appears in certain spots).

 

[Loki882]

It's like Michael Myers. Carpenter's version had no explanation for his evil. And it made him all the more frightening and unique.

Zombie tried to humanise and make us sympathise with the character. Wrong. That isn't Michael Myers.

There is ways to make villains compelling without having to humanise them. Countless examples.

Not the same thing. Michael wasn't the protagonist of Halloween, Laurie Strode was (or Dr. Loomis depending on who you last). They could get away with that with Michael because the movie wasn't focusing on him. This movie is focusing on Maleficent, so there needs to be more to her, it's that simple.

 

[Loki882]

I like all kinds of tales, but Maleficent's beauty has always been in her purity. She isn't Darth Vader, she is the Joker (Nolan style), the devil, a force of nature. Here they are attempting to give her a "reason" to be bad. To make her sympathetic. You don't need to sympathize with Maleficent. She is Maleficent.

It is very clear that the focal point of her problem is going to be the king, her former love. That is about as cliched as it gets.

You know what's even more cliché? "I'm doing this because I'm an evil *****, and that's it." Sorry, but you're not going to win that argument.