The place where you find out whether you should check out a movie, or if it's not even worth the free movie ticket you're trying to use the day before it expires. Also some retro reviews every now and then. If you want to request a review, simply drop a line.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, make $1.2 billion. Now, Michael Bay is back with his ultimate weapon after a three year break and there is no way to really to describe it other than to say it is a puerile piece of absolute garbage with one sole positive factor.
Normally, this is the part of my reviews where I give a brief outline of the plot without giving away any spoilers. But frankly, there is way too much going on for me too sum it up and I couldn't really find any cohesive plot whatsoever. Basically, all I can really say is an inventor played by Mark Wahlberg buys an old rusted out truck which turns out to be Optimus Prime. Then the government gets involved.
It's gonna be difficult for me to take do this seriously, as I already know several jokes I am going to tell when I film my show "Flick Check with Andrew Woltman" (Shameless self promotion). But since this is my written platform, i'm going to trying being a little more objective than that.
I will credit it for giving the robots a little more personality then they had in the previous films. They aren't completely generic and flat as they were. But they're still crude semblances of what giant robots should be. The humor is bland, one-note and juvenile.
I'm sure there is a plot, but there is no strength or way to tie it together. The best way to sum it up is that the movie is like watching a friend play a single player video game. It's someone else playing small missions that seem like they could be fun, but you never really get a chance to because things pop up and disappear so flippantly. It's stretched so enormously thin that it's exhausting. The action is generic and overly bombastic, that even someone like Michael Bay seems to be losing touch of the one thing he loves and does right.
And it's way too long, and it has absolutely no reason to be.
The acting in this movie is enormously sub par and flat. Once again Michael Bay has decided to cast a respected actor in a comedy relief role that undermines him and makes me lose confidence. Alas Stanley Tucci, I knew thee well. The actors and actresses have such hollow and wooden delivery.
Now this brings us to two points.
1) Mark Wahlberg. A superb actor. Enjoyable to watch here. Horribly miscast. He doesn't really fit the premise of a scientific inventor. He is just not really what springs to mind when you think of a struggling scientist.
2) The only person actually performing well, and the ONLY good aspect of the film. Kelsey Grammer as the antagonistic Harold Attinger. We've seen Kelsey do comedy for 20 years as Dr. Frasier Crane, but he has a deep ferocity that reared its head as Tom Kane on Showtime's Boss. He is dark, determined, and cunning. It's easily the closest thing to acting in this movie, and Kelsey gets to leave with dignity.
To close, this was an absolutely awful movie, and easily the worst of 2014 to date. The SOLE redemption is the performance of Kelsey Grammar.
If you know me, there are two things that I am very passionate about: Movies and Late Night Talk Shows. Nick Mundy is a part of both. You may know him from his popular sketch comedy Team Tiger Awesome, you may recognize him from his recurring hilarious guest appearances on The Screen Junkies Show hosted by our friend Hal Rudnick. If you watch a lot of online skits on Funny or Die or College Humor, you'll see him in a good handful. If you follow the Twitter of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, you'll know how much of a fan Nick is, and how much The Rock likes Nick. Even more of his presence can be seen on the TBS show Conan where he appears recurring pieces in taped skits, and one very recent live performance as "Troy Fieri." Wherever you know him from, Nick is a rising internet and Television star, with strong movie opinions and a hilarious camera presence.
I was fortunate enough to talk to Nick for a phone interview, and you'll be glad to know that he is as much fun to talk to as he seems on camera. A good portion of our conversation involved discussing movies and shooting the breeze. Here now is my exclusive interview with Nick Mundy.
Andrew: Where are you from originally?
Nick: I grew up in just north of Houston, Texas. The suburbs of Houston.
Andrew: What did your parents do for a living? I saw your dad on Screen Junkies the other day.
Nick: He's an attorney and my mother is now a professional grandma. But before, she worked various jobs in the medical industry.
Andrew: Have they always been supportive, have they been there for you?
Nick: Oh yeah, big time. I mean I wouldn't be where I was without my folks. They supported me and my little brother for everything. If I wanted to be in the circus they would have called me a fucking idiot, but they would have supported me. You know the feeling, I got lucky in that department.
Andrew: I do know the feeling.
Nick: Exactly.
Andrew: Where did you go to school?
Nick: I went to a small school called University of St. Thomas in downtown Houston where I mostly played Rugby and that's about it. And the school didn't really have a film department at the time I did it. So me and one of my partners in Team Tiger Awesome who lived down the block from me, in the summers we would work on these big projects and we've been doing it now for 12-13 years together.
Andrew: Let's talk about Team Tiger Awesome. You said you started out with your buddy Clint [Gage], correct?
Nick: Yeah, me, Clint and Michael Truly started it in February 2006. Since then we did about 150 sketches and worked with Comedy Central, Funny or Die, College Humor, a bunch of internet companies that don't exist anymore, AXE Body Wash we did a thing for them, a bunch of branded stuff. We did a lot. And then about 2 years ago, we were hired to do our first rewrite for a feature. And since then we've done a few more, we've kinda stopped doing sketches and we focus on writing and also our individual pursuits came into the forefront and that worked itself out nicely. We're still Team Tiger Awesome, we still write together but Truly hosts a lot of stuff, and acts and produces a bunch of projects. Clint directs a bunch of projects. I act a lot. We're actually shooting our first project in a while for this pilot for Comedy Central Studios with Chris Jericho. So we're really excited about that.
Andrew: How exactly did you get in contact with Comedy Central?
Nick: Well we've worked with them for a number of years and we pitched a number of different ideas and we had this idea about two buddy cops on an endless stakeout and it kind of grew from there. We have the same agents as Jericho, and they suggested him and we were like: Yes. Yes we would very much like to work with Chris Jericho. You know he's an improv guy, he does Groundlings, he's got a lot of interests. We met the guy, he's fantastic, he's a really great guy. It's gonna be a fun project, we start shooting in August.
Andrew: I wish you luck with it
Nick: Thank you buddy.
Andrew: Let's go back a little more. What made you want a career in entertainment?
Nick: I've always been into comedy. I'm a big comedy guy. In junior high, I was obsessed with The State and The Kids in the Hall. In elementary school I was obsessed with Saturday Night Live. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I was always kinda headed towards this without even knowing about it. I like making people laugh. That's my kinda thing. And now there are a lot more platforms you can use to do that......and make a little money doing it.
Andrew: (Laughs) That always helps.
Nick: Sometimes.
Andrew: Ok, now let's talk Screen Junkies. How exactly did you get in contact with The Screen Junkies Team?
Nick: I had a meeting with Andy [Signore] and Brett [Weiner] who was there at the time, they co-created Screen Junkies. Brett is still a friend of the family, he's onto other pursuits, but he's always stopping by. They had talked to me about hosting it. Obviously, they have the perfect host.
Andrew: Hal does do a great job.
Nick: Oh my god, it's fantastic watching him do it. I've learned so much from it, because I didn't have a lot. I was going to audition for it, but then i got really fucking sick (even though Andy thinks I backed out of it. He's a liar.) All the ideas I've always had for it are there in some way to be the side aspect to Andy and to Hal. I've been a fan of Hal's since before I met him. He's just a really fucking good dude. So Hal got the job, as he should have, and a couple months later Andy was like "Well let's do something" and we did the Die Hard thing, How to Fix Die Hard 5. And we had no idea what we were doing, it was just kinda this bit. And it turned out to be really popular at the time. I mean if you look at the views now compared to then, it would be like the lowest rated. We did that and then we did the Razzies one a couple weeks after that, and that was fun. We always had a great relationship, we were just talking about stuff. Then we did The Rock video, and that was awesome. I'll do anything for those guys. I was excited for that opportunity. I really appreciate that Hal could have done it, it's Hal's show. And that's the thing. Hal's like the most gracious guy I know. You can tell he's from improv, because he's a great improv actor, and he's always sharing, he's always collaborating, he's always passing things on and he could have done it and had fun. Or Andy could have done it, they could send anyone. But I was very fortunate that they sent me, and it meant a lot, and it was a great thing, and it really did a lot for me. Since then, we've done a lot more "How to Hix It" videos and those have taken off to my surprise. I thought I was just a heel from wrestling, but they like 'em. I mean well....three fourths of the people like 'em. There's a lot of assholes out there.
Andrew: I do love what you have to say about Blood Squibs.
Nick: Yeah! I don't take myself seriously, Movies are hard. These guys are working their asses off. But, I think that what people appreciate is, I think my points are valid. I'm just trying to present it in an entertaining manner. I'm a big pro-wrestling guy. So I like putting it out there in a humorous manner. I get it. It's been fun. I've been doing it since. There are plans to do more. So we'll see how that turns out. But it's been great. I'm very grateful to be working with them.
Andrew: I'm sure I'd get in a lot of trouble if I did't ask you about Dwayne Johnson.
Nick: Yes.
Andrew: Obviously you're a big fan of The Rock. How did that come about?
Nick: I was a big wrestling fan, and I still probably am. If you ask my girlfriend, I spend a good amount of time watching WWE Network. He wasn't my favorite wrestler, I've always been more partial to Mick Foley, Stone Cold, or Ric Flair. But I always thought he was entertaining, I thought he was a better bad guy. But I saw Fast Five and I was obsessed with it, because The Rock was so fucking good. I mean he's ridiculous and amazing. I've always been a fan, i've been saying for years. Cause, i'm writing my own stuff, I have a feature that he would be great for, I wrote it for him. Someone said it the other day, he has this odd variety. He has a combination of the best qualities of Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has the heart of Sylvester Stallone, the wit and talent of Bruce Willis, and the body and charisma of Schwarzenegger. And I think, he's a great actor. I think he will get nominated for an Oscar. I don't think he'll ever win, he'll get nominated.
Andrew: That's a pretty bold statement.
Nick: I think he will. I think he will. And his performance, I wasn't bullshitting about Pain and Gain. I think it was one of the best performances I've seen in years. I still love that movie.
Andrew: I loved how edgy he was in Pain and Gain.
Nick: Totally. I think he was great. He's like he's not scared of anything which is nice. I think he's gonna do some weird stuff down the line.
Andrew: You plan on going to talk to him again when you do the Hercules junket, right?
Nick: That's the rumor. I don't know what we're doing. That kinda came outta nowhere. He tweeted that video, and then we started talking that weekend. Well, talking as in four tweets. That was surreal. that was like "What the fuck is going on?" And I've heard from rumors that he's a fan of that video. So, I don't know what we're doing, i'm sorry to be vague. There's a couple cool things we could do, at very minimum, i'm gonna talk to him.
Andrew: I look forward to seeing that.
Nick: Well, you might see something on Twitter in the next few days about what we're trying to do. So keep an eye out on Twitter or Facebook.
Andrew: I will. Now here's my million dollar question I ask everyone: Who played the better Willy Wonka: Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp?
Nick: I never saw the second one.
Andrew: Good choice.
Nick: Tim Burton is very overrated.
Andrew: Thank you!
Nick: I'm not saying he's bad, i'm just saying he's overrated. Like, I love Beetlejuice. First two Batman's are pretty good. Not my favorite, but I get it. That Big Fish movie was good, but I just might have been depressed that year. I mean, I just wanna see Johnny Depp wear Khaki shorts one day. And like a polo shirt. Play an accountant.
Andrew: I went into Transcendence thinking maybe we're finally gonna get something normal.
Nick: Oh yeah! I heard that movie sucked!
Andrew: It was basically if you took Jarvis from Iron Man and put him on a screen that's it.
Nick: That might be Avengers 2. Andrew: Now that's intriguing, i'd love to see that.
Nick: I mean Paul Bettany is playing Vision. Ultron comes from an artificial intelligence. And I think that's how it's gonna go. I think Jarvis is gonna turn into corrupted Ultron. You can even search for it, there's even a deleted scene or animatic where they have Jarvis saying to Iron Man "You don't need all those guys" like dropping a hint.
Andrew: I can't believe I missed that.
Nick: That's what I think is gonna happen.
Andrew: Now, Conan O'Brien is my absolute idol. How exactly did you get into contact with him?
Nick: I have a buddy named Scott Gairdner who for about a year and a half was a writer there. So me and Scott through Team Tiger Awesome have a really great group of friends who are all really talented. One of my friends out in L.A. is the creator of Halt and Catch Fire on AMC. A buddy of mine is the creator of the show Undateable. Scott was a writer at Conan, he now has his own animated show with Rob Lowe coming out called Moonbeam City which is gonna be fucking amazing. All of my friends, we have different levels of success, but we're all just really good friends that take care of each other. We just have a lot of fun, just talk about non-sense for hours on end. But Scott was in a bunch of our stuff, I was in a bunch of his stuff. He was at Funny or Die before Conan and I did a sketch with him called Brozen Brogurt about bros eating there own type of special frozen yogurt. And that was fun, that was really cool. It was a good experience. And then a couple months later he asked me to be the lead of this Gold 4 Gold sketch. It was fun. It was cool being the lead of it. I got to shoot it on the stage. That was crazy. That sketch blew up! Everyone loved it. Everyone on the staff loved it. Conan loved it, Andy [Richter] liked it a lot. So we did like 4 or 5 more of those, and they were all really popular. I did a couple other sketches. Now the other writers bring me in for different parts when I'm right for it, and they seem to like me. So i've done about 8 or 9 sketches there. Which is so surreal. The last one, doing it live, that was like a dream of mine. As soon as I heard, I was like "Yeah, I want to do that." And interacting with Conan and Andy was huge. That was insane.
Andrew: I loved the Troy Fieri sketch last week, it definitely had that kind of quirk to it where you can see how vibrant the personality is, but then so casually says "No relation"
Nick: He's the best. I didn't know too much about Guy Fieri, but he seems like a ridiculous person.
Andrew: He makes a good barbecue sauce.
Nick: Really? I read his menu for his New York restaurant and it makes Chili's look subtle.
Andrew: One last question. What advice do you have for people who want to explore a similar career to yours?
Nick: Work. Don't stop working. I've lost friends, girlfriends, years. Have a life. Explore. Read. Watch. Wish I did that more. Have a life, but work. It's gonna be hard, it's gonna be sacrifice. Work and make stuff. Work and make stuff. You just have to work. Everyone probably has a day job, then you gotta put in another 6-8 hours after that. You gotta be working on a couple things at a time. Because everyone's trying to do it. Now with technology, it makes everything cheaper, and everyone thinks they're a writer. Everyone thinks they're a comedian or actor. It's great, it's awesome to have more avenues, but there's just so much more of it. So you have to work and you have to stand out. And the best west to do it is to keep working, cause the stuff you do isn't gonna be good, but if you keep doing it you get better.
Andrew: That hit home with me.
Nick: Well yeah. There's always gonna be the story about a guy who got a great break and got onto a CW show. And you can't be jealous of that guy, you gotta be happy for him. You don't want to be the asshole. Los Angeles gets a bad wrap for having assholes. And it might. I know a lot of great comedians. But usually the people who are bitching about L.A. are the assholes that no one likes. I mean, I've gotten breaks, I've gotten lucky. Sometimes I think I have my career because I'm a big loud guy who can break through shit.
Andrew: (laughs)
Nick: It helps! Everyone's different. Everyone's got their own thing. But there's thousands of people just like us trying to do the same thing. And some have had more success than me, some have had less. But no matter what, you just gotta keep working. Hal works his ass off. He does a bunch of stuff. He's constantly working. Andy over at Screen Junkies, constantly working. My two partners, constantly working. My friends on TV shows, constantly working. Just gotta keep working.
Andrew: Thank you Nick, I very much appreciate you taking the time to talk.
Nick: Anytime man.
I've talked about musicals before, and what it boils down to is that I'm not the biggest fan. I have nothing personal against musical theater. But to quote Jeff Winger from Community: "I see the appeal, and I would never take it away from anyone. But I would also never stand in line for it." Yet there was something about Jersey Boys that drew me in. It was most likely my familiarity with the Four Seasons and their songs. Not to mention that it was directed by Clint Eastwood.
Starting in the early 50's, Frankie Valli and his partners Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi try their best to break into the world of show business anyway they can. When Tommy's friend Joe Pesci (Yes, that Joe Pesci) introduces them to song-writer Bob Gaudio, they finally record some smash hits. But under the surface, they hide tension that could pull them all apart.
There is no way around how well the musical aspects of the film have been constructed and executed. it doesn't feel random, it's organically sprung without the suspension of disbelief that normally accompanies musicals. The songs themselves are toe-tappingly fun, and well performed. I'm probably even going to download the soundtrack despite the fact I already own most of the Four Seasons discography.
The script is strongly written with enough depth into the characters and their emotions. It's a great story that they tell. The problem, however, is that it feels very loose and disorganized. Like the man that eats all his vegetables first with only occasional bites of steak in between, the film doesn't really cover all the parts of the story in a balanced way. You forget about somethings until they come up later, and by then you don't feel like you've had enough. It needs a little more substance where it matters, but it's still delicious.
Tonally, I'm not exactly sure that it really fits Clint Eastwood's style. The man is very clearly one of the greatest directors of all time, and he has a distinct style and appeal. But this movie lacks the bombastic energy that many musicals have. It could use a shot of energy to help it rally come to life. It's well done, and Eastwood tried hard, but it's not as much fun as it could be.
Acting wise however, we see some strength across the board. Keeping in mind that most of the main ensemble are making their film debut, we see some powerful performances from these freshmen to the screen. And veteran Christopher Walken carries some real weight in his supporting role that adds to the power of the film, and makes you feel like he isn't wasted.
Yet, Andrew's Standout here is John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli. He is full of heart that makes Frankie come to life in the way that Larry Parks did to Al Jolson back in the 1940's. It's a fitting tribute, one that re-introduces us to this golden voiced icon, and makes us fall in love with it all over again. I really hope this serves as a springboard to bigger roles. I'd love to see more of Mr. Young.
All in all, Jersey Boys is well acted and well sung, but it's not as fun or strong as it's potential suggests.
I'm a little reluctant to review Chef seeing as Jon Favreau's main character launches into an angry diatribe describing the problem with critics, which hit home with me. I commend Favreau for his forthrightness in his opinion, and he raised valid points, but I'm not going to let it deter me. I happened to like the movie anyway.
Chef Carl Casper is working in a well known restaurant in Los Angeles, crafting a new creative menu for an internet critic who is coming in to review. However, his boss forces him to stick to his old familiar menu which causes the critic to deride Chef Carl for not taking risks. Carl loses his temper on the critic, and also loses his passion. He travels to Miami with his ex-wife in order for him to reconnect with his son, but he also finds a creative outlet.
Along with his honesty, I must also commend Jon Favreau for making it feel so authentic. Not only has he clearly done his research in learning how to cook, the food looks absolutely amazing. One clamors for a movie theater restaurant so that you could enjoy the movie that much more. But, this just may be my stomach talking.
Emotionally, we find a rich tapestry of human connection and connectivity. I mean, I don't really know anyone with this kind of camaraderie with their ex-wife, but we are led to believe the split was amicable and they clearly communicate well enough for the sake of their son. He's clearly not the best father he could be, but the performances between Favreau and Emjay Anthony lend some truth to the idea the most strained relationships can be repaired. Favreau's script is deftly detailed and rich with enough catharsis and pay off to make it a fun ride.
I also love the social media incorporation, which signals our changing times as well as comments on the dangers that each of them presents.
However, I can't really justify some casting decisions. Robert Downey Jr. is one of the 5 actors who can guarantee my spot in a theater. He is one of my absolute favorites, and I welcome his presence here. Yet, it feels like a cheat. His character is little more than a cameo. He comes across with extremely intriguing quirks that could be explored more. I wish they could have either delved deeper, or just not told us ahead of time that he would be in the movie so that his brief appearance could have been a pleasant surprise.
Otherwise, I love the acting. Jon Favreau has spent majority of the past decade writing and directing, yet this is the first time he's given himself a major acting role. He is charming, and honest with a grittiness that makes him more relatable and understandable. He has some flaws, but he never pushes us away.
Sofia Vergara also has a wonderful presence. Rather than come across as the controlling, fun-sucking ex-wife, she is welcoming and supportive to bring out the better qualities of our protagonist. It's a good change of pace from the tired old cliche.
I wish I could sum it up without resorting to food puns, but it's hard to call Chef anything but delectable and delicious. It's full of heart, humor, honesty, and enough imagery to make your mouth water.
There is such thing as a great sequel. Immediately springing to mind are The Dark Knight, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Toy Story 2, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back......I could keep going, but the one thing you won't really find on that list are comedy sequels. Why? Because the most common practice is doing the same thing as the first time with different gags. How many times can you really see the Wolf Pack try to piece together the previous night or watch two employees try to convince everyone Bernie is still alive? And come on, if the only thing you have from the original is Chevy Chase, why on earth create the abomination that is Caddyshack II? Basically, 99% of comedy sequels are Grade A garbage. Until now.
Picking up where the first movie left off, Schmidt and Jenko are working undercover narcotic cases, but are doing terribly at it. So their Chief assigns them back to the Jump Street program to repeat what they did in the previous film and infiltrate a school in order to cut off a new drug sensation. This time however, they go to college.
21 Jump Street was so deftly smart because of how they skewer the idea of making a movie based on a Television show from the 1980's. The single funniest thing I heard in the year 2012 was the quote from Nick Offerman (TV's incomparable Ron Swanson) describing the mission to the two rookie cops: "We're reviving a canceled undercover police program from the '80s and revamping it for modern times. You see the guys in charge of this stuff lack creativity and are completely out of ideas, so all they do now is recycle shit from the past and expect us all not to notice." It played on all the tired old tropes and gags, and it made them fresh again.
This time, the team skewers the idea of trying to make something bigger and better than the first time and trying to do what worked the first time. Aside from the run of jokes that occur with the plot, the main comedy again comes from the meta-humor about the film itself. The idea that they are simply trying to do things the same way again but hitting dead ends is a commentary on the thinking of studios. It's so magnificently funny from the perspective of one who can appreciate the fact that comedy sequels usually suck, but they keep coming.
Another brilliant aspect is the "bromance" between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. They have excellent chemistry because they are so vastly different. A friendship such as theirs is rare and fulfilling to the viewer because of their repartee. They play off each other so strongly, that it rivals the chemistry of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield.
Consider this fact: The first movie was so brilliant, Kurt Russell's son Wyatt turned down a role in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire so that he could be in this sequel.
Jonah Hill excels in his capacity as Schmidt, combining his normal on screen personality with the deftly written screenplay he has crafted.
But Channing Tatum soars in this film. Why? Think Leslie Nielsen in Airplane! Prior to that role, he had done mainly dramatic material. He played his role of the doctor seriously, but it was sidesplittingly hilarious because he was delivering his absurd dialogue in such a straight demeanor. The same can be said for Tatum who plays off his action hero, dramatic lead range with his great character here.
22 Jump Street is the first time a comedy sequel has not only been great, but better than the first. I guarantee you will laugh till it hurts.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty. An evil fairy puts a curse on a girl so she will prick her finger and die, only to have the spell weakened by a pixie so that she will wake up with true love's first kiss. In Disney's version from 1959, it was fairly cut and dried as a run of the mill animated story. 55 years later, Disney is telling it again, but trying to inject it with some new insight.
In Maleficent, the classic tale starts off by telling the origins of the title fairy. She once had wings, but had them taken from her when she was betrayed by her love Stefan, who would eventually become king. In revenge, she puts a curse on his newborn daughter.
It's decidedly different in many distinct ways from the original classic, but it outright tells you that "you don't know the real story." Therefore, they are justified on paper with any sort of deviation. It's a very noticeably darker tone for a Disney film, and I love the direction that they chose to pursue. It's very intriguing to have seen the transformation of this fairy into a villain and have it seem reasonable for the character's tragedy. So that's a plus. But frankly, it didn't go far enough. The actions she takes don't feel in line with a villain. The original Maleficent was pure evil, here she is very watered down. They went way too far with trying to make us have sympathy with her, which the backstory already did reasonably well. Yet we are constantly reminded that she is at fault, which is a reminder we don't need, and in the end comes across as insulting to the audience's intelligence.
In addition, there is a pacing problem which may account for character issues. Sequences are either drawn out, or sped up giving issue to the developments and choices the characters make. Important plot details from the original are relegated to Easter Eggs due to the new direction the story takes. I would have loved to see more of an updated fleshing out of these ideas, but they move too quickly for us to let them sink in.
To it's credit, it does have striking visuals....so yay.
The main saving grace to the film is the absolutely Magnificent Maleficent played by Angelina Jolie. She submerges into the character deeply and wholly to create a terrifying villainess who is conflicted and hearted with her choices and actions. It's a brilliant update to the character and is induced with a brilliant commanding power and vocal range to instill fear and empathy into the viewer simultaneously.
The only other performance that carries any insurmountable weight is that of Sharlto Copley as Stefan. He has this inner turmoil of knowing that he is in the wrong, but defending the actions he has taken. It creates a mentally unhinged state which Copley does so well, and what made him the sole redemption to the 2010 version of The A-Team.
Basically Maleficent is carried by the brilliant interpretation of Angelina Jolie, and great visuals. But it suffers from poor pacing, and not adhering to the established tone. It's still worth a look.
