Rating: A+
Disney has outdone itself yet again by making the old-school “good girl gone bad gone good” movie into something completely refreshing. Be that as it may, this is a remake of the old animated Sleeping Beauty (1959) classic, but thankfully with a completely new and engaging twist.
Immediately the audience is thrown into a land divided between humans and magical beings. These two groups don’t really get along, but against all odds, a romance blossoms between the young fairy Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and orphan boy Stefan. Without spoiling too much, their love isn’t Disney textbook. Selfishness, greed, and revenge are so prevalent that one begins to wonder whether true love exists at all. When their rage is taken out on princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) in the form of Maleficent’s “16th birthday spinning needle eternal sleep only broken by true love’s kiss” curse, things in the kingdom take a turn for the worse. Aurora is sent away to live with fairies for protection and Maleficent spends her days toying with them all from a distance.
What sets this family movie above all others is the tremendous cast. Angelina Jolie was downright amazing. Hesitant as I was about her “British” accent, I really had nothing to worry about. She played the downtrodden yet still oh-so-powerful villain to a “t.” Deservedly, she outshines everyone else in the movie, even though Elle Fanning played Aurora as if she was born for it (you go Glen Coco).
My only qualms are with the story itself. Does anyone else see the logic in sending Aurora away for safety? If all the spinning wheels were burnt anyway, she’d have a much better chance of finding true love before her 16th birthday living in a castle filled with other people than being hidden away in the forest. Alas, her father wasn’t a thinker.
Yet the team at Disney are thinkers. This movie was absolutely tremendous. The parallels between young Maleficent and Aurora were well drawn, and despite giving the male gender a bad rep to kids, it is a film full of good morals. Nothing but respect from me here.
Maleficent
Directed by Robert Stromberg
