Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning star in “Maleficent,” the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty.” I vaguely remember Maleficent in the original Disney Sleeping Beauty. And I am actually glad I barely remember her because I came with no baggage to the screening of the movie.
Maleficent movie has had a lot of buzz ever since Disney announced that they were making a movie focused on the “evil” fairy and certainly the buzz amped up after it was communicated that Angelina Jolie would star in the movie. I for one was curious how Ms. Jolie would play the role. Watching the movie, with her angled cheekbones, scary fairy eyes and horns, she obviously had a lot of fun going from good to evil.
One thing I liked about this telling is that in the 1959 Sleeping Beauty, she is just another fairy tale villain but this movie like the book and Broadway play, “Wicked,” offers up a back story of how Maleficent’s heart turned to darkness and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora (Elle Fanning).
In a nutshell, it’s about a woman betrayed by her childhood sweetheart (Sharlto Copley). You can’t really blame her turning to the dark side because his betrayal is completely unforgivable.
I was happy with the performances of the three main characters. And for me the movie was a fun ride, very enjoyable. I will say that it was somewhat predictable in places (Frozen comes to mind) but still had a few surprises. As far as the look and feel, the scenes with Maleficent in all her winged glory were quite stunning but then the flip side it was a bit cartoonish when she interacted with the Moor creatures.
All in all, I would recommend this movie. My 11 year old daughter thought it worthy of seeing as well. She is actually going to see it again with her class. Note that even though the movie is rated PG, I really think it will scare younger kids.
Are you planning to see the movie?
Maleficent Trailer:
MALEFICENT is rated PG and releases in theaters everywhere on May 30th!
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Disclosure: NYC Single Mom went to the screening of the movie.
I really can’t wait to see this movie! It looks so amazing!
I can’t wait to see this movie. It is one of the movies that I have been waiting for to come out.
This probably isn’t the right movie for my family but I’m glad to hear they did a good job developing the story. Sounds like her ex-love deserved some hurt, though she went about it all wrong.
Depends on how old your kids are but definitely is a consideration.
This is on my movie list for the summer. Can’t wait to take my son.