Film synopsis
The untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) places an irreversible curse on the king’s newborn infant Aurora (Elle Fanning), but as Aurora gets older, Maleficent begins to care about her and she needs to figure out a way to reverse the curse.
My thoughts on the film
Most people know the story of Sleeping Beauty, but no one knows the untold story of Maleficent. Well, that’s because it’s never been told before, hence the “untold” part of it and this is Disney’s version of it. While most people will say that they would rather stick to the Sleeping Beauty story, Maleficent definitely takes a different approach and it was quite a risky approach on Disney’s part. If you couldn’t tell in the trailer, Maleficent is a dark film. It’s not your typical Disney-soire, but think of it as the recent Snow White film, Snow White and the Huntsman. Sure, it wasn’t as dark as Maleficent, but it was your grown up version and that’s not a bad thing. There are still some light-hearted moments and there are some laughs, so it’s not as dark as I might make it seem, but again, it’s not a film you would want to bring your child to.
As a guy, I thought I was going to be bored because, well, fairy tales aren’t my thing, but I was entertained and interested the whole time. It is visually appealing and Angelina Jolie was great. I’ve always been an Angelina Jolie fan, especially her action films such as Wanted and Salt. While this was a change of pace, Jolie definitely had centre stage and she ran with it. As for the other characters, I thought Elle Fanning as Aurora was great, but I couldn’t stop thinking about District 9 every time I saw Sharlto Copley as the king. Of course, this is more of a personal issue, but he was so darn good in District 9 that I couldn’t find him believable as a king in Maleficent.
Rating 3.5/5
Maleficent is certainly a dark film and one that you should not take your young children too. With that being said, it’s entertaining, visually stunning and Angelina Jolie is magnificent.
Maleficent is currently playing in theatres. Check your local theatre for showtimes.
