Maleficent (2014) review

Movie Poster

Isobelle Molloy as Young Maleficent

 

" Princess Aurora: I know you're there. Don't be afraid.
Maleficent: I'm not afraid.
Princess Aurora: Then come out.
Maleficent: Then you'll be afraid"

Maleficent is an action-adventure/fantasy family film directed by Robert Stormberg (Concept Artist for The Hunger Games) which is the other side of The Sleeping Beauty's story. Now, when you want to see this movie have an open mind instead of a fanboy or fangirl mind. Mainly because it is not so close to the roots of the original story. Although it follows the order of the story it is much darker but with the risk taken a beautiful and amazing movie is born from the writer Linda Woolverton. This movie is also the return of Angelina Jolie to the big screen.

This story begins in the Moors. A land full of mystical creatures and animals protected by barriers from the human world. A fairy known as Maleficent protects and maintains the magical land. One day a peasant boy named Stefan passes the barriers and steals a few shiny stones from the river. But before he can scape he is captured by the guardians and confronted by Maleficent. They eventually become friends and later when they become 15 they share what the narrator describes as "True Love's Kiss". But later on Stefan's ambitions to become king stop him from seeing Maleficent as regularly as he used to. Years later King Henry, the current-time's king, sets his army to attack and claim the Moors as his. But in the war him and his army are defeated by the guardians and by the now much stronger Maleficent. During this assault King Henry is badly injured and hurt. So, he sets a bounty on Maleficent. Whoever murders her gets to be the next King. Stefan and his ambitions lead him to betray Maleficent. He uses her trust and puts sleeping potion in her food and later when she falls a sleep he uses the fairy's weakness, iron, to cut her wings off. He then runs off with the wings to King Henry and claims the throne. Meanwhile as Maleficent wakes up she is drowned in hatred and sorrow. As she wears a dark outfit and turns The Moors dark like her sad heart. She then turns a crow into a human (played by Sam Riley) and names him Diaval. Diaval becomes her right handed man and brings her news from the human realm. He has the ability to turn into whatever Maleficent desires, such as a boar, crow and wolf. Meanwhile he brings Maleficent news of the birth of a new princess name Aurora. Maleficent sets way to her birthday celebration to seize her revenge on King Stefan and his new queen, Queen Leah. During the celebration there are three fairies, Flittle (played by Lesley Manville), Knotgrass (played by Imelda Stuanton) and Thistlewit (played by Juno Temple) who have friends with the humans and each give little princess Aurora a gift. Maleficent crashes the celebration and bestows a gift, better put as a curse of her own. She puts a spell on Aurora that when it is her 16th birthday she will prick her finger on a sewing wheel's needle and enter death-like sleep. This curse can only be broken with a true love's kiss. As Maleficent believes such thing doesn't exists.

To me this movie is a piece of art and is every bit of a great new origin story. Like I said it is darker in contrast to other movies but has twist, turns and humor that makes it a great family film and just a great film in general.
I give it an absolute 10/10.