The Maleficent trailer ain’t half bad, but it is awfully confusing. I knew I was gonna get it all twisted up as soon as I heard the title. Are we watching this movie from the evil fairy’s perspective? Is she supposed to be sympathetic? Did they forget that she puts that nice young lady into a magically induced coma?
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, unless Disney is braving a new storytelling path. In that case, this is awesome, but I doubt it. Angelina Jolie looks pretty neat in costume, and the effects are definitely spectacular. I just have no idea what this movie is.
In a lot of cases, a confusing but gorgeous trailer isn’t so bad. The new X-Men trailer is a good example. It tells almost nothing about the movie, but it makes clear all of the characters we can look forward to seeing, and shows off how sweet the movie is going to look.
I don’t know how much the Maleficent trailer achieves the first goal, and I don’t know how much it should. This film isn’t drawing a wide-ranging franchise. It’s playing off of one established property (and old folk-tale) and reinvigorating it. I think Disney might have wanted a little less sizzle and little more steak. It does look amazing though, and there are hints of context for the scattered images.
I’m not unexcited about this movie, but the Maleficent trailer didn’t help much.
