Stromberg brings us a spin-off of “The Sleeping Beauty”, telling us the tragedies of the villain, Maleficent and the story from her point of view as we come to know about the grave things that have happened to her to make her the way she is with Aurora.
Plot: Maleficent was a carefree, happy young fairy, living a simple life in the moors away from the kingdom, and comes to meet a farm-boy and befriend him. Soon, the king attacks the moors and tries to kill all the magical creatures living there, but Maleficent saves them. However, soon, out of greed to become the next heir to the throne after the king dies, the farm-boy betrays Maleficent by drugging her and cutting off her wings. This trauma changes Maleficent forever and after a few years when that same boy grows up to become the king and has a daughter, she curses her. Surprisingly, as the years go by Maleficent realizes her mistake and understands how the daughter, Aurora could be the key to bringing peace and harmony between the kingdom and the moors.
The role of Maleficent could not have possibly been played by someone apart from
Angelina Jolie
. In spite of the heavy make-up and the CGI all around her in almost all the scenes, she can still command each and every scene. The suave threats and cold, passive lines are delivered with such stillness that it clearly brings out the essence of Maleficent’s character. Even though the rest of the cast were also equally good, but special mention must be given to
Elle Fanning
for playing the role of a happy and vibrant Aurora and warming our hearts in all the scenes in which she made her appearance.
The movie is visually a treat because of the wonderful colors, depth and drama in the scenes. The mood and the theme of every location is portrayed so intricately, that the viewers have no problem in understanding what kind of a dull and grim place the kingdom’s castle is what kind of a lively and colorful the moors are and also how they seemed to have changed with the character of Maleficent. However, some scenes like the battles between the magical creatures and the king’s army and also the scene where we see how Maleficent reacts when she realizes her wings have been cut off, can be very hard-hitting but also have a deeper meaning in them. The story-telling process of the movie could have been a lot smoother in places where there have been a few jerks making the viewers momentarily confused about the true purpose or motives of the characters.
Verdict: To this re-telling of a famous fairy-tale which shows us the true colors of the villain who we assumed to be cruel and ruthless, while teaching us a lot of negativity and how badly it can blind us at times, I give this movie, 4 out of 5 victories.