In this new take on the classic Sleeping Beauty fairytale story, Maleficent, a beautiful winged fairy falls in love with a human, by the name of Stefan. where they grew up together in the peaceable forest kingdom. Little did she know, Stefan turned cold and bitter while longing for power, which eventually separated the two people for the time being.
Until one day, when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land, Maleficent rises to be the forest’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately faces a rude awakening – a betrayal from Stefan himself. While she was sleeping, Stefan decided to cut off both of her wings so that he may present them to a dying King Henry in order to be the named successor of the throne.
This act only took her pure heart and molded it into stone, ridden with only one thing- revenge.
To avenge herself, Maleficent arrives at King Stefan’s kingdom and casts an irreversible evil spell on the newly crowned King’s first born child, Aurora. Fearing for Princess Aurora’s life, King Stefan sent her away until the day after she turned sixteen.
Day after day, Maleficent watches over her. As Aurora grows, Maleficent grows fond of her and starts to realize that she may hold the key to peace between the two kingdoms, and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.
Overall, the movie turned out to be fun to watch with many twists and turns. Although I was a little skeptic about this since I am a true believer of the original Sleeping Beauty story, it proved to be a tale of female empowerment, romance, as well as deviousness.
Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Maleficent came to life in full form with her stunning skills and presence. It was amusing to see Jolie play a role that required a lot of nuances to pull of this character with a multitude of depth and dimensional image.
With the actors, theme, and excellent story line that tied it all together, it was a spectacular balance. Although keeping some humorous Disney moments, the movie producer also included a dark tone, or a mix between villains that are both good and bad.
I recommend this movie to all families as it proved to be a remarkable adaptation from the classic fairytale, Sleeping Beauty- “Only may she wake from a true love’s kiss, from Prince Charming himself.”