Movie review: Maleficent is a perfect summer film for kids

What happens when an iconic villain that generations have grown up hating suddenly gets a heart-of-gold reincarnation? A revisionist tale that stands out for Angelina Jolie’s inspired take. Take kids for this one!

What happens when an iconic villain that generations have grown up hating suddenly gets a heart-of-gold reincarnation? A revisionist tale that stands out for Angelina Jolie’s inspired take. Take kids for this one!



This Disney production , directed by Robert Stomberg, reimagines the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. The evil fairy queen (Angelina Jolie) is no longer the bad guy. She is instead the good fairy who is scorned and deceived by the man she loves (Sharlto Copley). THell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Well, the adage stands true for fairies too. Her mind turns to revenge and she curses the Princess – the daughter of the above mentioned man – and then sets about making her life miserable. But she is no longer the one-dimensional villain we knew, instead she is a fully grown woman who has loved and lost. Does she succeed in her professed intention? Therein lies the tale...

A perfect film for the kiddies

Summers are here and a vacation film is in order. Going by the squeals of fellow audience members in the audience who were below 12 years of age, this is just the film. The CGI effects which showcase the wonderland of the moors are just spectacular and storyline is child-friendly. Happy fairies, winged creatures who light up the screen, a forbidding castle in the background and a mud fight to boot – this is the film which will leave a child happy.

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Watch this for Angelina Jolie

Her silken smooth performance is the highlight of the film. In fact, there is nothing much in the film once we discount Jolie’s inspired take on the woman who loses love and gradually finds it again. She makes the transformation believable. And don’t we all love the wicked Jolie who goes bad with a twinkle in her eye. Her black-clad and horned form makes everyone else, include Elle Fanning as Aurora, pale into insignificance. And when she has her wings, the film soars!

A revisionist tale
The film relooks at the Sleeping Beauty tale from a feminist point of view. It is no longer the witches tale we all knew where the queen is bad for the sake of being bad. She has a backstory and there is a reason she does what she does. This one is for the feminists.