This routine follow-up to the 2014 live action reworking
of the classic fairy tale, and 1959 animated Disney feature, "Sleeping
Beauty" reverses the anti-traditional thrust of its predecessor by having
its young heroine, the once-cursed Queen Aurora (Elle Fanning), accept the
proposal of her longtime suitor, Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson). But the
course of true love fails, predictably, to run smooth since both the morally
complex title character (Angelina Jolie), whom Aurora regards as her fairy
godmother, and the groom-to-be's thoroughly nasty mom (Michelle Pfeiffer)
object to the match. Returning screenwriter Linda Woolverton, joined this time
by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, delivers worthy but heavy-handed
anti-war and pro-environment messages as director Joachim Ronning diverts from
the overly-intricate plot with colorful visual treats. Though free of any
genuinely objectionable material, his film is too frightening for little ones.
Watch out for: Much
stylized but sometimes harsh combat violence.
Rated: A-II, adults and
adolescents; MPAA: PG
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2019