Review of Maleficent (2014) by Richard L — 25 Jan 2015

Angelina Jolie is great in a retelling of Sleeping Beauty that provides the backstory for a signature villain. I generally am not interested in these kinds of prequels, because the original fairy tales don't need to be fleshed out further. The allegory for rape that begins the movie was obviously tough to witness. It was also difficult to understand the motives of the king and why he did what he did to her. The movie suggests that it is simply that humans are naturally greedy and seek power, an idea that may have some truth to it, but has become a trope in fantasy movies especially that robs the human characters of any complexity.

Much better is the relationship depicted between Aurora and Maleficent, the true emotional center of the movie. I think the movie would have benefited from making Aurora a more complex character and exploring this relationship even further. I also liked the relationship between Maleficent and her shape-shifting crow.