Disney's Maleficent tells the story of Sleeping Beauty's villain, Maleficent. What made her evil, what made her put a curse on Aurora and her fearsome ways. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it.
As a child, I never was a huge fan of Sleeping Beauty. I much preferred Cinderella and Snow White over her, because she just seemed a bit dull and boring. This is also the case here, with Elle Fanning playing Aurora. Yes, she looks the part however she just came across as how I always saw her, dull and boring. It didn't make me feel for her in anyway.
My next problem, is Maleficent. As much as I didn't like Sleeping Beauty, I loved the character of Maleficent. She is so strong, badass and at the same time charismatic that you do wonder about her and want to see more of her in the story. This is why I was really excited when Maleficent was announced.
Unfortunately, this film made Maleficent weak. Yes, it's nice that she still has a heart but people are bad for reasons, and you don't become a great Disney villain by half way through regretting your decisions. She wasn't badass in this. She was troubled in the beginning, which is ok because all villains have that side but when a character (especially a villain) arcs, they are meant to get worse and worse, and that's why you hate them. However at the same time, this is Disney and so it has to fit to everyone, and that's probably why it went wrong.
So, Overall? I didn't enjoy it. The make up/costume design were great, and I loved that. The set design was fantastic, but maybe the director should stick to set design and not directing. The script was meh (and ripped off other disney films), and the acting was subpar. Maybe I expected too much, but I felt majorly let down and am not looking forward to the said reboots of The Little Mermaid and Jungle Book. Cinderella, I'll keep my eye out for you.
★★☆☆☆
Have you seen Maleficent? What did you think?
