Maleficent

Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty gets a do-over, this time from the viewpoint of the wicked fairy (Angelina Jolie). It turns out she's the jilted girlfriend of King Stefan (Sharlto Copley), so it becomes the story of the revenge of a woman scorned. Writer Linda Woolverton's feminist rewrite makes a hash of the animated original, and it doesn't even make sense on its own terms. These revisionist fairy tales all tend to make the same mistake: The villain's very wickedness is the reason he or she is so interesting. Making them wronged or misunderstood can only diminish their dramatic power. (Meanwhile, the movie makes King Stefan wicked without making him interesting.) Robert Stromberg, a visual-effects technician here promoted to director, is an example of the Peter Principle in action. Nice effects, though.