Maleficent - B-

Rated PG, 98 minutes

Sleek Jolie is nice centerpiece of CGI-heavy "Maleficent"

"Maleficent" is Disney's new live-action re-imagining of the "Sleeping Beauty" fable told from the perspective of the antagonist, the iconic evil queen Maleficent. Entertaining and retold to give the villain more heart, Angelina Jolie is a regal queen and a nice centerpiece to a film that's both overdone in terms of CGI yet surprisingly short on story but overall still remarkably satisfying. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent (Jolie) cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king's (Sharlto Copely) newborn infant Aurora (later played by Elle Fanning) to an eternal sleep after she turns 16. Directed by special-effects master and Oscar-winner Robert Stromberg ("Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland") in his feature film debut, the "Maleficent" boasts some strong, if not, overdone, visuals and extravagent production values and a memorable, inspiring turn by Jolie as the titular character who's made out to be both hero and villain in this version of the story. The story is a bit slow and sluggish early on, but Jolie struts off with the movie as the heavily made up, angular and very sleek queen and it picks up some energy in the film's latter chapters and a fun climax. The handsome, first-rate visuals and production values are Stromberg's strong suit, though they both add and detract to the film, though the real visual is Jolie herself in that wicked headpiece, who was seemingly born to play this role. Watch for Jolie's real daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, as a very young Aurora, and their brief screentime together is one of the film's treats. If it weren't for Jolie, the film wouldn't work near as well, and she makes the entertaining, crowd-pleasing "Maleficent" more fun to watch. With all this talk of "true love's kiss," as well as the dragon and the evil queen, I was expecting Shrek and Donkey to walk in, though that might be a little too easy. "Maleficent" is worth a look mainly for Jolie's strong turn.

Wes's Grade: B-