I went to see Maleficent a couple of days ago. This will be my review on the film. Overall I enjoyed the film. The visuals were stunning, incredibly detailed and beautiful. The costuming was absolutely superb, especially Maleficent's costume. The acting was excellent, especially Angelina Jolie.
My thoughts on the storyline however, are indeed a bit jumbled. I thought their take on the storyline was very well thought out. However the film seemed to move quick. It's something I've noticed lately with Fantasy films. They seem to be all action and no reflection. I will have to see how the How to Train Your Dragon sequel fairs. Nonetheless it felt a little fast paced.
Now I'm one of those people who usually like the original better. I won't spoil anything. Well I have to almost because the ending was interesting. So SPOILER ALERT, Maleficent lives and no longer is evil. It was all King Stephan. The curse breaks when Maleficent feels guilty about cursing Aurora and wishes for forgiveness.
There is an interesting aspect to this conclusion. What it does is it prevents a simple message from spreading. The kiss of true love. Feminists will love this, or anyone who wants to be strong. This is not an insult, it's just something I figured. It deconstructs the message that women need men in order to be saved, aka, the kiss of true love. Another scene that fosters a more masculine greed is that Stephan steals Maleficent's wings for sake of power. Maleficent ends the fight between the two near the end of the film. He tries to finish it and in the end plummets to his death.
The character Diaval was very interesting. I like how whatever he transformed into be it wolf or dragon had a crow like look to it. Perhaps this is why I am forgiving that the dragon did not have four limbs and two wings. Believe me, I was not the least bit pleased about that. However, I can overlook it. The dragon was cute though. Very well done, despite that- oh whatever!
I guess my ultimate conflict is that I'm not sure how to feel about the ending. Maleficent is probably, other than Chernobog, the most terrifying and most evil of all the Disney villains. Ursula and Jafar come close, but not nearly as close. Maleficent is a subtle villain. Though I love the complexity of how Maleficent became evil, I thought that the ending of her turning good took away from that concept we have of her as a villain. At the same time I think it works for this interpretation and story. I always knew she was a fairy, but I sort of wanted to explore who her parents were. I always figured her father was a dragon, probably because of the horns. Then again I've seen drawings of fairies with horns... I think.
In the end I think the movie was well done and contained elements that bear witness to the original film. Despite its minor conflictions with the original, example: the dragon in the original had four limbs and two wings and was Maleficent, I still think that film performed excellently and that everyone should at least go to see it. I give it 8 out of 10 dragon points.
That's it for this review. Find more in my blog. Keep reading everyone.
Starvix Draxon
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