I liked Cinderella.
Can't comment on it (though it got decent reviews from my circle of reviewers that I follow).
It depends on the story, the director and their "spin" and vision on the story. I thought Cinderella, due to Branagh and his style was fantastic. I was never a big fan of Thor in the comics but the first film of Thor was just a beautiful and grand vision of a comic book. It felt much more serious and less 'comic-booky'. Cinderella was an adult version of a simple fable. It felt much more grown-up- all due to Branagh. A Dumbo live -action? I don't know...Burton seems like a weird fit for it, but I'm willing to give it a chance. There still isn't a GREAT Alice movie. The animated one is interesting and certainly memorable for a lot of reasons but the book is a tough road to hoe as a film. The Chernabog based Fantasia spin-off is really, really an interesting idea and could be a classic gothic horror film 'ala a Todd Browning type Dracula. None of the Disney canon films are purely 'original'- even much of Fantasia was centered on music that was story-based; and they are all the "Walt Disney" version of books, stories and music. Most would be hard to top- but given the right director, story and execution could be worth seeing. Maleficent was, to me, just an alternative version and, like I said, the originals still exist for us to cherish. It was a gorgeous looking film (maybe the creepy looking fairies weren't so hot), but it was sure interesting to at least consider and overall I enjoyed it- certainly visually.
To me the fairies were more seen as bumbling and somewhat incompetent, but well-intentioned. The whole point of the movie was to show 'why' Maleficent became who she became. It's sort of like the intention of the Star Wars prequels- Darth Vader started out as a good little kid and, like a lot of people, due to what happens to them and the influence of others they take a turn towards evil. It makes the character more interesting for sure and more complex. Do you have to like Vader and Maleficent? No, but it does shed some light on them. I agree with you that there are two sides (at least) to every story. Now, when I watch Sleeping Beauty I can't help but think about Maleficent and her story too. It improved my appreciation of her. Both of these movies are gorgeous and great to watch, but have different appeals.There are two side to every story...gosh!
That's really not true.
