Angelina Jolie is Magnificent as Maleficent

Once upon a time in a far off kingdom there lived a King and Queen who had just brought their first child into the world, Aurora. Upon christening the child in royal fan fair, the evil sorceress Maleficent placed a curse on the Princess. The curse was that on her 16th birthday she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and go into a death like sleep. After being protected by the 3 fairies, and falling head over heels for Prince Phillip, the curse comes to past. In conclusion, Philip comes to her rescue defeating Maleficent, and wakes Aurora and the kingdom by giving true love’s kiss. Now you’re about to find out what really happened in this timeless tale, through an unexpected twist of events. Read ahead for our recap and review of Disney’s MALEFICENT, a very soon to be Disney classic! WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Maleficent the powerful fairy in her full glory.

In this phenomenal retelling of a fairytale classic, Walt Disney Studios, MPC, and Joe Roth Films, collaborated in triumphant fair as Linda Woolverton reconstituted the classic Sleeping Beauty to shift focus and make a compelling film fittingly titled, Maleficent. There was quite a bit of back story that really set the stage for the crux of the film, but it was all vital to establishing the relationship between the all powerful fairy Maleficent and the ambitious villager turned king Stephan.

Basically, Maleficent was born as this powerful fairy with great spell casting and flying ability, and while protecting the Kingdom of Fairies she comes across this weak villager named Stephan. Ultimately they forge a romance; however, on Maleficent’s 16th birthday, Stephan and her kiss, solidifying the romance. Later in their relationship, Stephan began to vie for power, by cutting off Maleficent’s wings, thereby gaining his own personal ascent to the throne. Upon Maleficent’s awaking to finding herself be deformed she was at an ultimate loss, and her greatest loss, as she yelled in pain. From here, this is when the Maleficent we all know and love comes to play.

Maelfeicent’s loyal crow even gets his own origin story.

Her first step towards becoming her infamous self was to transform a crow that was being maliciously attacked, and using Diaval as her ally in the sky to be her eyes and ears for the places she could no longer travel to. One of the first pieces of intel that Diaval brings her is that Stephan has become King Stephan, and she can’t believe that Stephan would allow her to lose so much just for him to gain so much. With that Maleficent makes the Kingdom of the Fairies her own, and forms a thrown for herself. With that the joy and happiness that once existed in the Kingdom of Fairies, now there is a sadness and a darkness that looms over her. The tension between the Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of Fairies went from bad to worst as Aurora was born. Upon her birth, there was to be a royal christening, this is where the classic tale, and Maleficent’s telling of it intercede. As the fairies are blessing her with beauty and happiness, the lights begin to flicker, the crowd begins to quiver, and the kingdom personage shiver in fear. As she goes up the middle aisle, Maleficent makes her grand entrance in a way that only Angelina Jolie could in her black ensemble. With her entrance, she curses the child, and says that on her 16th birthday that she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel, but she created the caveat that if she received true love’s kiss that she would be revived.

The untold story of one of Disney’s greatest villains of all time…

Over the course of the aging of Aurora, she is taken to the woods to live in a cottage as a baby, and is looked after by the likes of Fittle, Thistlewit, and Knotgrass. Although Maleficent initially abhors her, she soon gives her the nick name of Beastie, as her curious adventurous spirit reminds her of herself. As an infant Aurora gets outside the house, and takes a liking to her, and shows it as she hugs Maleficent.  This shows that Maleficent, even in her quest for revenge, still has the capacity to love and care about others. During this time, King Stephan burned every spinning wheel in his kingdom, and he became power crazed, and even began to be neglectful of his wife. Eventually then is the transition to Elle Fanning’s entrance, and the story truly takes a turn for the…. better.

From here Maleficent starts to become a mother figure to Aurora, and begins to show Aurora the kingdom she grew up in. Her first trip depicts her being elevated through the barrage of thorns and being set down in the Kingdom of Fairies. Upon being dropped she awakes to explore the various creatures of the kingdom and all of their magical capabilities. Aurora can sense that she is watching her from a distance, and she requests her to step out, and although she doesn’t believe she’ll like what she sees, Aurora passes no judgement against Maleficent. Over the course of time, Maleficent and Aurora form a maternalistic relationship, and Aurora feels the confidence to tell the fairies that she wants to move away. After getting so close to her, Maleficent aims to revoke the curse, and appears to be successful, but the curse won’t leave Aurora’s body. Later Maleficent explains how she lost her wings, and Aurora is sympathetic with her situation. While practicing her speech, she meets Phillip, yes that Phillip, and although there is chemistry between them, they are driven towards two separate paths.

The prophecy comes to pass on Aurora’s 16th birthday!

While trying to get her freedom, the fairies reveal Maleficent’s past to Aurora, and with that betrayal of trust Aurora rides on horseback to the castle to get some clarity from her father, King Stephan. With great determination Maleficent and Diaval find Phillip, guide him using magic to the castle, in order to save Aurora from her own fate. After meeting her father, Aurora begins to be under the spell of the curse, and goes into the room that had all of the spinning wheels in it. Although they were deconstructed, with the power of the curse, soon one was reconstituted, and as the fabled tale goes she pricks her finger on the spinning wheel. With that she falls into a death like sleep, and soon is taken to bed, while Maleficent, Diaval, and Phillip break into the castle. Although Phillip tries to kiss her, his kiss is not that of true love’s kiss. After everyone leaves the room, Maleficent gives the most poetic monologue of the film. In it she admits that she’s done unforgivable deeds, and that she’s always protected her, after coming to peace with Aurora, Maleficent kisses her and unexpectedly… breaks the curse.

The final act of the film deals with Maleficent versus King Stephan and how their relationship comes to a close. With that Aurora, Diaval, Phillip, and Maleficent try to escape the castle; however, Maleficent is ambushed and has a scorching hot cage dropped on her. To protect her kin, Maleficent tells Aurora to run to protect her. After having Diaval turn into a dragon Maleficent is able to get out from underneath the metal area. Then this helps lead to Maleficent’s final battle against King Stephan, and she get’s hammered by him, until Aurora is able to release Maleficent’s wings, and in self defense she kills King Stephan. With the battle completed, their is a beautiful sun that leaks over both kingdom’s symbolizing the unity and peace between the Kingdom of Men and the Kingdom of Fairies. The film closes with Aurora being the Queen over both domains and Maleficent coming full circle and no longer having the hate and distrust for men she once had.

Maleficent is a MUST SEE!

This film was fantastic on so many levels. The creation of the maternalistic relationship between Aurora and Maleficent was a unique take on a relationship that was far more different in the Walt Disney 50s classic. On a more adult level, I thought that the introduction of the two kingdoms added significant philosophical depth to a story that is otherwise overdone and redundant across various mediums. Although I took issue with the fact that Stephan is constantly the one abusing the relationship and himself because it always puts him on the offensive. Whereas on the other hand Maleficent was found to be on the defense and act in response to her former lover.

Everything you think you know about the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale will be questioned.

Technically, the cinematography was breath taking, the visual effects team did a supreme job at making the magic seem tangible and honest, and lastly the production design team really captured the spirit through it’s use of period dress, props, and set decorations as well as creating a tangible world for both kingdoms to inhabit. Lastly, from a cinematic standpoint, and a commercial standpoint, the film would be remiss without the acting chops and great branding skills that Angelina Jolie brings to the film as Maleficent. Her growth demonstrated that people do have the potential to change. The screenplay also revealed that the ultimate sacrifice allows us to make a change for the better as it did for Maleficent. Secondly, Elle Fanning’s portrayal of the Princess Aurora with such a curious intellectual and regal approach was truly terrific in bringing her to life. If this is a sign for how Disney is going to approach the retelling of their animated classics we will be in for a treat in the next couple of years. On deck the Kenneth Branagh directed Cinderella with Lily James of Downtown Abbey fame in the title role.

What did you think of the film? Drop us your comments below…don’t worry about spoilers, we pretty much covered them all here!

After a huge first weekend haul Maleficent has set the bar high for success.