Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Maleficent'

Written by Shae Rufe

Admittedly, I wasn't sure about this movie when I first saw the preview. The story of Sleeping Beauty is not one I really liked growing up. I didn't hate it, per se, I just didn't care for it as much as others. So (I think 'so' is my catch phrase. I sure start enough sentences with it!), when I saw they'd made a live action version of the beloved Disney classic I grew up with, I had my reservations, but gave it a look. Because, Disney.

As it turns out, I was completely blown away. The story isn't about villains and heroes. It's about people and actions. It's about love, betrayal, greed, kindness, and so much more than I thought. The story follows Maleficent, as the title says. We get to see her side of things. Giving a well-known villain a back story was quite interesting. They handled transitions perfectly, with no unnecessary exposition. It went straight in and led us through Maleficent's life. Turns out, she was a fairy, a powerful one at that, who protected her magical home from the greed of men. A king didn't care for that and demanded she be killed. Only, a childhood friend, her first love, chose not to kill her. Stung with the betrayal, Maleficent curses his child.

The rest of the story is history, right? Aurora is sent to live with three fairies attempting to be human while protecting her. She meets a prince, falls in love, and still is hit with the curse. Pricking her finger and falling into a sleep like death. All the elements are there, only the fairies didn't do such a great job at raising the child, so Maleficent kind of stepped in…not really wanting the child to die. As she gets older, Aurora finally confronts the supposedly evil fairy that's been following her all her life. Only, she's convinced that Maleficent is her Fairy God Mother. She makes fast friends and worms her way into a scorned heart. The young princess does meet her prince, Philip does make an appearance, but not in the way I thought he would.

And when it comes down to it, evil is not born, but made. True love is not always what we thought. I'm not going to give spoilers, I know this movie has been out for ages but I really feel that it deserves to be seen rather than reviewed in full detail. It's a movie I was genuinely surprised to love as much as I did, and I am glad I gave it a chance.

---