Maleficent
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A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. She rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal – an act that begins to turn her heart into stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading King's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and to Maleficent's true happiness as well.
What critics thought
Critics were largely split on this revisionist take on Sleeping Beauty: nearly everyone agreed that Angelina Jolie commands the screen, but the film around her — its script, direction, and CGI-heavy world-building — struck many as thin and undercooked. The feminist-revisionist angle drew genuine enthusiasm from some, while others felt the story never fully earned its ambitious themes.
“[it] surprises not for its baroque visions of a colourful woodland enlivened by joyous fairies and a forbidding castle peopled by unhappy humans, but rather for the thematic richness of its story gloriously personified by Angelina Jolie in the title role.”
Kate Taylor·Globe and Mail
“there's a lot of levitating cliffs and odd flora. But despite their bleeding-edge digital design, the backgrounds have all the depth of the old matte-painted backgrounds of the analog days”
Keith Staskiewicz·Entertainment Weekly
“Still, for all its limitations, Maleficent manages to be improbably entertaining to watch, due solely to its title character.”
Ann Hornaday·The Washington Post
“the story itself might well put you into the same type of coma that befalls the heroine.”
Richard Roeper·Chicago Sun-Times
“the most traumatizing image I've seen in a Hollywood fairy tale since the Christ-like sacrifice of Aslan in 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Matt Zoller Seitz·RogerEbert.com
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- none
- Profanity
- none
- Substances
- none
- Intensity
- mild
Genres
Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Family, Romance
Cast & Crew
Robert StrombergDirector
Angelina JolieMaleficent
Elle FanningAurora
Imelda StauntonKnotgrass
Sharlto CopleyStefan
Lesley ManvilleFlittle
Juno TempleThistletwit
Sam RileyDiaval
Brenton ThwaitesPrince Phillip
Kenneth CranhamKing Henry
Sarah FlindPrincess Leila's Handmaiden
Isobelle MolloyYoung Maleficent
James Newton HowardComposer
Linda WoolvertonWriter
Dean SemlerCinematographyMaleficent
A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. She rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal – an act that begins to turn her heart into stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading King's successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom – and to Maleficent's true happiness as well.
What critics thought
Critics were largely split on this revisionist take on Sleeping Beauty: nearly everyone agreed that Angelina Jolie commands the screen, but the film around her — its script, direction, and CGI-heavy world-building — struck many as thin and undercooked. The feminist-revisionist angle drew genuine enthusiasm from some, while others felt the story never fully earned its ambitious themes.
“[it] surprises not for its baroque visions of a colourful woodland enlivened by joyous fairies and a forbidding castle peopled by unhappy humans, but rather for the thematic richness of its story gloriously personified by Angelina Jolie in the title role.”
Kate Taylor·Globe and Mail
“there's a lot of levitating cliffs and odd flora. But despite their bleeding-edge digital design, the backgrounds have all the depth of the old matte-painted backgrounds of the analog days”
Keith Staskiewicz·Entertainment Weekly
“Still, for all its limitations, Maleficent manages to be improbably entertaining to watch, due solely to its title character.”
Ann Hornaday·The Washington Post
“the story itself might well put you into the same type of coma that befalls the heroine.”
Richard Roeper·Chicago Sun-Times
“the most traumatizing image I've seen in a Hollywood fairy tale since the Christ-like sacrifice of Aslan in 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Matt Zoller Seitz·RogerEbert.com
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- none
- Profanity
- none
- Substances
- none
- Intensity
- mild
Genres
Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Family, Romance
Cast & Crew
Robert StrombergDirectorAngelina JolieMaleficentElle FanningAuroraImelda StauntonKnotgrassSharlto CopleyStefanLesley ManvilleFlittleJuno TempleThistletwitSam RileyDiavalBrenton ThwaitesPrince PhillipKenneth CranhamKing HenrySarah FlindPrincess Leila's HandmaidenIsobelle MolloyYoung MaleficentJames Newton HowardComposerLinda WoolvertonWriterDean SemlerCinematographyStream
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