Maleficent

Disney’s live-action, revisionist remake of its own Sleeping Beauty (1959) unfolds from the perspective of the villainess (Angelina Jolie), depicted here as a good fairy who turns bad only after being persecuted by humans. The original movie’s stark sense of good and evil is replaced here by a more nuanced, relativist perspective, which effectively prohibits the sort of nightmarish visions that made Walt Disney’s early animation features so powerful. This looks impressive, though, making use of highly imaginative, state-of-the-art 3-D effects while still evoking old-school Disney animation (even the wide-screen compositions seem to be modeled on those of the original). The supporting cast—which includes Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, and Imelda Staunton—is enjoyable too. Longtime special effects artist Robert Stromberg directed.