I am so pleased to report that Maleficent is a WONDERFUL new take on the tired old Sleeping Beauty story. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to the movies today.
For those of you who don’t know, Maleficent is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the evil sorceress Maleficent. A few weeks ago, in preparation to watch this movie, a friend and I watched the old Disney animated version, a true relic of its time. It was released in 1959 and it felt that way — from the music to the blonde beauty to the black-and-white struggle of good vs. evil. It struck me, watching the old movie, that the makers of Maleficent chose a good tale to remake. Not as popular as Cinderella or Snow White, it hasn’t been remade to death already. And as an added bonus, the 1059 Disney movie was so simple that watching it almost felt incomplete. I could conceive of endless twists and turns a cunning storyteller could take to fill in the gaps in order to add depth and dimension to both the story and to Maleficent.
Kind Steffan (Sleeping Beauty’s father) hurt Maleficent deeply. The strongest point of overlaps between this new movie and the Disney classic is the scene in which Maleficent arrives at the baby’s christening to curse her. This scene is halfway through Maleficent, and at the very beginning of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Some of the lines were quoted word for word, but when Maleficent says them in this new version, my heart went out to her AND to the innocent baby who had done nothing worse than be born to the wrong person.
I don’t really want to spoil this movie for you. I did see bits of it coming, but I didn’t even mind because the delivery was excellent. The acting was strong, especially by Angelina Jolie (Maleficent). I cannot recommend this movie enough to adults and older children (not the young ones — I’m on the fence about letting my 6-year-old watch).
Five stars!