Maleficent

Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite fairy tales so I was so excited when they decided to make another movie.  If you haven't had the chance to see it her's the trailer.

A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal - an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces a battle with the invading king's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom - and perhaps to Maleficent's true happiness as well.

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Spoilers Warning:

I was happily surprised that the plot remained faithful to the original while recreating the title character; you may think you know the story but this on - in so many ways - is so much better. Angelina Jolie is flawless. She was the perfect choice for this role and she nailed it. She really is amazing and this movie would have been half as good without her. And the scene with Vivieene was adorable! I would have loved to see when it being filmed. Although Elle Fanning left me wanting I really loved the rest of the cast in general, the cast was well picked. The graphics and the music in the movie were fantastic. Retold fairy tales can always go one of two ways, bringing new light and a fresh spin on the old story, or it slacks in all important areas. 

I think that the king overreacted when he sent Aurora when she was a baby, I  mean he had 16 years to spend with his daughter while looking for a cure to the curse. Instead he sends her away and goes crazy trying to find a way to break the spell. He could have watched his daughter grow and had her play with a bunch of little boys and girls and maybe by the time she was 16 she would have had a true love, instead of being cast away at a cabin with no one but the incompetent fairy's. In reality if he had spent time with his daughter as she grew up, he would have fallen in love with his daughter and he could have broken the curse. Because true love is more than just a kiss from a lover as the movie proves.

 I love that they did not glorify true loves as a kiss between a young princess and prince that have just met, that's just unrealistic, even for a fairy tale. Instead they allowed Aurora to melt Maleficent's icy heart and Maleficent to fall in love with Princess Aurora. In turn Aurora falls in love with her "godmother" and the magical world she lives. In the end she fixes all the chaos her father's greed created, by reuniting the Moors and her fathers kingdom. I'm so excited to see this movie again, I might even see it in the theater again; because it was amazing on the big screen.


A.B.