As a child of the classic 2-D hand-drawn Дисней animated films, I was raised to fear the dark villains of Snow White, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. Maleficent was probably the most menacing and sinister of all the Дисней villains. Her glowing green eyes, the horns and her Сверхъестественное powers to control the environment and cast curses made her by far the most fearsome villain. When I heard that Дисней was making a live-action feature film about Maleficent, my interest was piqued. When they announced that Angelina Jolie was going to be playing the Название role, I was intrigued. An origin story of one of the greatest Дисней villains of all time played by one of the most enigmatic Актрисы of our generation. Throw in a first-time director who has spent his career in visual effects for films like Pan’s Labyrinth, Hunger Games and the Life of Pi and Ты have the potential for a very good movie...or at least a very pretty movie.



The movie opens in a land of two species, the humans and the fairies. They live apart but are ruled by one king. As expected from a director (Robert Stromberg) with a visual effects background, the world of the fairies, called the Moors, is eye Конфеты and reminiscent of Pandora in Avatar. The creatures and landscape are fantastical and what Ты would expect from a homeland for fairies. We meet a young orphan fairy named Maleficent (played by Isobelle Molloy) who is pure and innocent but somewhat sad at the same time. It seems odd that a fairy would have such an ominous name. One день she meets a human farmboy named Stefan that wanders into the land of fairies. She dangerously falls in Любовь with Stefan over the years until he no longer returns to see her, too consumed by his desire to become king. She eventually grows up to be the most powerful fairy and the protector of her land as the Queen of the Moors. The longstanding peace between the humans and Феи does not last because of the power-hungry nature of man. The king attacks the Moors only to be stymied by the powerful Maleficent. Stefan eventually becomes king by betraying Maleficent’s trust and that leads to the curse of baby Aurora, whom we fondly know as Sleeping Beauty.



The retelling of a classic tale is always a tricky and potentially risky undertaking. Maleficent takes a twist by making the villain the hero. Angelina Jolie is a brilliant and perfectly cast Maleficent. I could not imagine anyone else in the role as her ability to effectively blend the anger and vengeance with the sadness and Любовь is unlike any other. Unfortunately the same could not be сказал(-а) for the rest of the cast. I felt that the role of the mad king Stefan played by Sharlto Copley was a bit too cartoonish and over the top. Elle Fanning makes for a visual match as Aurora, but she does not compel us to have any emotional attachment to her. She is a bit too plastic and smiley to be tragic. And the three Феи are meant to add some comic relief, but they just become annoying to watch after a while. The twist in the story is somewhat predictable дана that “true love’s kiss” is the only thing that could wake Aurora from her eternal sleep. And the only option they have is a Болталка Prince Philip that shows up for one минута before she goes into her deathlike slumber. The denouement of the film feels a bit too rushed as her sixteenth birthday comes and she is asleep for what seems like no еще than an час before she is resurrected. It all felt a bit anti-climactic for what could have been an epic ending.

Maleficent is a bit too dark and violent for children, despite being a Дисней movie. I don’t think anyone under the age of 10 should watch the movie as there are vivid Обои of women being struck and men being killed in battle. The movie still manages to be fun to watch as Angelina Jolie and the spectacular world created by Robert Stromberg are mesmerizing. Seeing it on the big screen almost makes it worth the price of admission alone. Maleficent may be the greatest villain (turned hero) of all Дисней time, unfortunately it’s not the greatest Дисней movie.