Maleficent (2014) Film Review

Maleficent is the evil fairy who put the sleeping spell on Sleeping Beauty. But what if she were not evil? Or rather, what if she became evil because she was betrayed horribly by the human she loved? What then, hey?

Angelina Jolie plays the fairy in this alternative telling of the fairy tale, and Elle Fanning is the princess. And it’s not bad – it is certainly stunning to watch, but it didn’t ring my bell. Of recent fairy tale based viewing, there are far better. This is just a bit… well, boring, actually.

Maleficent was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Costume Design

Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) Film Review

It will be the film always known as the one that brought Brad and Angelina together… or the film that split Brad and Jennifer up. It’s not that much of a shame, because it’s not a brilliant a film.

The premise? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie play a husband and wife who are both assassins, though neither suspect the other. Then they both go out on the same kill and ruin the job for each other, and not long after that, they are both trying to kill each other.

What worked? The couple in therapy, bored with each other, then becoming attracted again once blood lust was in the air. The running and shooting and explosions were very good. The concept was pretty ace, and there was some awesome technology. It was fun, and I do like my action with some comedy, so tick and tick.

A Mighty Heart (2007) Film Review

Based on a true story, A Mighty Heart follows Mariane Pearl (Angelina Jolie) as she deals with her journalist husband’s disappearance in Pakistan.

This should have been heartbreaking. It should have had me in tears, and feeling every injustice in the world. Instead, I was kind of bored. I had no interest in what had happened to this man or what was going to happen to his heavily pregnant wife. I’ve been struggling to figure out why; perhaps I just couldn’t believe Jolie in this role. She’s fabulous when she runs and jumps and fights and shoots guns, but waiting and keeping her emotions together? It just didn’t work. Perhaps it was the structure of the film, with seemingly misplaced flashbacks throughout that burst any bubble of tension that may have been building. It’s based on a book. Perhaps the book is better.

Hackers (1995) Film Review

Who would have thought that the nineties would age so badly on film? This film had all of the outfits and trends that either were cool, or that the film designers thought would be cool, but now they just look daggy. Like rollerblading.

Dade (Jonny Lee Miller) was convicted of hacking many multinational corporations at eleven. Now, seven years later, he and his mother have moved to the city and he is attempting to fit into a new school. He quickly finds the underground world of hackers, including Kate (Angelina Jolie), Joey (Jesse Bradford), Cereal (Matthew Lillard), Nikon (Laurence Mason) and Phreak (Renoly Santiago). In trying to prove himself to the group, Joey accidentally uncovers a plot by The Plague (Fisher Stevens) to steal a whole lot of money from a major corporation. The Plague manipulates the police (led by The Bunk – yup, Wendell Pierce) into chasing the teenagers, and they must hack to prove their innocence.

It’s such an ace film – although possibly only for anyone who was a teenager and loved it at the time. Very little about it holds up – the styles, the computer lingo, the internet speed they are managing on their dial-up. But it’s still totally ace and I love it.