Maleficent

We all know Angelina Jolie is a beautiful woman, and she have done some great performances in some of her motion pictures. But without a good script, we have seen some examples of bad choices. Of course a lot of actors have followed the same path, but Angelina manage to find a way to make good motion pictures, with the right director. One of her best performances until this day is Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood. Since then, we have seen her in very different genres, with very different quality. But the fact is i like Angelina, when she finds the right character. Let us not forget her really good performance in Girl, Interrupted, actually one of my sistser´s favourite films. Angelina tried to show a different side of herself, being a director and producer of the 2011 motion picture In The Land Of Blood And Honey. A drama film based on the Bosnian War, that failed to find an audience, and did not get positive reactions from movie critics. I have not seen this one so far, so i do not know if she is a talented director. Now Angelina is back with Maleficent, her latest motion picture, coming from Walt Disney Pictures. If you think this is an animated film, you are wrong. This is in fact a fairytale about the character Maleficent , known from the animated classic Sleeping Beauty, made into a new motion picture. Angelina Jolie is back on screen, and the biggest question is, is this her best character choice in many years, or should she have left this to a different project ?

Maleficent ( Angelina Jolie ), is a strong and powerful faerie, who lives in the Moors. She falls in love with a human boy named Stefan ( Sharlto Copley ). But Stefan is more focused on becoming a king. Stefan decide not to meet Maleficent anymore and focus more on his personal plans. At a battle of Moors, Maleficent defeat the king and his army who try and invade Moors. What Maleficent does not know, is that Stefan plans to kill her. But he can´t do it, instead he poison her and cut off her wings, as a proof that he have killed Maleficent. She survives, but her trust for Stefan is now lost, as he is now her enemy. Maleficent finds out from a raven named Diaval, that Stefan have now been crowned king. Since she no longer want anything to do with Stefan, Maleficent declare herself the queen of Moors. Some time later, Maleficent finds out Stefan have become a father to his daughter Aurora. On Aurora´s ( Elle Fanning ) 16th birthday, Maleficent give Aurora a curse, as she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, that will make Aurora fall asleep, and can only be wakened by true love´s kiss. Stefan is terrified this might actually happen, so he orders everyone to destroy every spinning wheel in the kingdom. Stefan order his army to kill Maleficent, but with no luck. Aurora runs away from home, as she is becoming a friend to Maleficent. Even if the queen of Moors have doubts about their friendship, she begin to like Aurora. One day, Aurora meets Prince Phillip ( Brenton Thwaites ), where both of them begin to have feelings for each other. But a relationship is not possible at this moment. Aurora is drawn by the curse, to prick her finger  on a spinning wheel, as she falls asleep. Maleficent want the curse to stop, so she needs Prince Phillip to kiss Aurora to break the spell. But Stefan have not given up, he will kill Maleficent and take control over Aurora.

Since it have been 4 years since we seen Angelina do a lead role, she does a great performance as Maleficent. I would say that i like the way she portrait the lady, who may look all evil, but deep inside she do have a heart of feelings, even if it may not show very often. The story have some dark elements, that looks really good on screen. This is the directorial debut of director Robert Stromberg, who previously worked as a production designer on Tim Burton´s Alice In Wonderland and Oz - The Great And Powerful. You can tell that he knows what he wanted to give the audience, since he worked on other fantasy stories before, to mix classic ingredients with some different flavors. The special effects look really good, and the make up on Angelina Jolie looks really good. But what i enjoy most of all about Maleficent, is the dark tone that is used in many scenes, that suddenly change into comedic situations. Sometimes it is nice to travel to a place where anything can happen, and you might even find some surprises along the way. Since i enjoyed both Alice In Wonderland and Oz - The Great And Powerful, i will not compare these stories since they are all very different. But they all have one thing in common, they are all made as fairytales, since most of them are based on classic books. Maleficent is actually based on the character from the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty. To see the character of Maleficent in a leading role is a fun idea, and you get to know the character more than in the original animated film Sleeping Beauty. So anything negative that should be said ? Not really, if you look at what this is, then you will most likely be entertained by Angelina Jolies performance, and i would probably say this is a motion picture for the family to enjoy together. Maleficent is an entertaining adventure film, not a classic in any way, but still worth checking out.

Rating :DDD