Maleficent

          We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty: baby is born, gets cursed by an evil witch, grows up in the woods, pricks her finger, falls asleep, and wakes up with true love’s kiss. But as with all stories there is another side one that no one ever hears, the story of the witch that cursed the beautiful princess, the story of Maleficent. The movie opens up in a magical kingdom upon the moors populated by everything from sprites to giant tree creatures; all ruled by their princess, an extremely headstrong fairy named Maleficent who is dedicated to protecting the moors from the evils of men. One day there is an upset in the kingdom, a young boy is caught stealing but instead of killing him like the fairfolk want Maleficent becomes friends with him. The friendship between Maleficent and the boy (whose name we learn is Stephen) quickly progresses into young love which is betrayed when Stephen goes off into the world of men to make his own way. Several years pass and the current king of the realm decides that he wants the power that is in the moors and launches an all out attack, however, Maleficent rallies her forces and strikes down the king. Then as the king lies on his death bed he promises that whoever can bring him the head of Maleficent will become king. Of course all of the men except one are terrified, a servant named Stephen, the same boy whom Maleficent fell in love with. He returns to the moors but is unable to kill Maleficent and instead he takes her wings. For his bravery he is crowned king and Maleficent vows her eternal revenge on him. With the help of her trusty crow she spies on the king and eventually finds out that he is now the proud father of a baby girl. Seizing the opportunity Maleficent goes to the castle and lays a curse on the princess; a curse that cannot be broken by any force on earth. Stephen responds by sending the child into the forest to be raised by three good fairies, unfortunately those fairies had no idea how to raise a child so Maleficent helps raise her in secret and teaches her about the magic of the moors. As the child grows Maleficent becomes more attached and even tries to remove the curse but to no avail. Once the princess turns sixteen she is able to return to the castle and to her father, Maleficent follows to protect her but falls into a trap herself. She becomes locked in a battle with Stephen and his army which results in Stephen falling to his death off of the castle. When the dust of the battle settles Aurora becomes queen and Maleficent even makes her a princess in the realm of the fairfolk. The end of the movie leaves the audience wondering if Maleficent really was the evil with that everyone thought she was or if she was a hero all along.

          This movie came as quite a surprise to me because when it comes to back story movies I tend to be a tough critic because most of them are inaccurate which really bothers me. That being said, I thought that this was a great movie! I love that the producers and directors kept the backbone of the original Sleeping Beauty story for the most part; and the fact that they created a realistic story about where Maleficent came from and why she decided to put a curse on Aurora was the icing on the metaphorical cake. The story was not the only thing that made this film memorable, the way that the graphic and makeup artists blended all of the elements together was pretty near flawless. My favorite makeup special effect was the way that they changed Maleficent’s horns as she grew up and made it seem believable. The only negative critique that I have to give the graphic art of the movie was with the three good fairies, the bodies and the heads of the fairies were not in proportion at all. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves the fantasy genre and those who are familiar with the story of Sleeping Beauty. This is also a family friendly movie for the most part; no bad language or inappropriate scenes (at most there is some kissing), the only part to be cautious of is there is violence in some parts of the movie so be cautious. Overall I would have to give this movie four out of five stars.