Movie review: Maleficent

It's amazing how true love can be defined in so many ways and the movie "Maleficent" was able to wake us all up with a different but equally touching and sweet ending. It has again captured the hearts of audiences with its classic yet twisted story of the famous fairytale "Sleeping Beauty". Only this time, the "evil" fairy Maleficent takes the spotlight instead of the fair Princess Aurora.

Maleficent, as everyone knows, was the evil fairy that cursed Princess Aurora, that on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle wheel and fall into an eternal sleep. Only a true love's kiss can break the curse and wake her up. In this movie "Maleficent", Stefan, Aurora's father, started out as a peasant boy and met with the magical creature Maleficent. The human kingdom where Stefan lived and the magical kingdom where Maleficent lived were not on peaceful terms. Stefan and Maleficent became best of friends and as time goes by, Maleficent's heart was stolen by this human. On Maleficent's 16th birthday, Stefan kissed Maleficent and claimed it to be a true love's kiss. But that was not to be as greed and ambition took over Stefan.

To be the successor to the throne, Stefan has to bring the head of Maleficent to the king. But he was not able to kill Maleficent. Instead, he stole her mighty wings and this was the beginning of bitterness, betrayal, hatred and revenge. Stefan became king and had a daughter who we all know as Aurora and Maleficent cursed her to avenged for herself. Stefan then handed over Aurora to the 3 good fairies to look after and Maleficent watched her grow from a distance. In the end, it was Maleficent's kiss, not Prince Philip's that woke Aurora. Thus, we can all see that true love is portrayed different in this movie. It was Aurora's daughterly love for her "fairy Godmother" Maleficent and Maleficent's motherly fondness of Aurora that broke the curse.

Angelina Jolie did an amazing job in portraying Maleficent. In the beginning, Maleficent was a sweet, young and innocent fairy. Her beauty and strength gave her the air of confidence and grace. Her eyes were soft and pure and full of joy and life. But after Stefan's betrayal, her eyes became hard and cold. Many a times, it was the look in her eyes that convey to us the story and her true feelings deep down inside of her. Her eyes, though hard and cold, still gave her the air of grace and power but this time towards the darker side.

Maleficent before Stefan's betrayal. Protecting her kingdom from King Henry, the king before Stefan.

When Maleficent arrived at baby Aurora's christening uninvited and face Stefan, though her eyes were mostly full of hatred and vengeance, there were a subtleness of hurt, betrayal and pain in them; a girl with a broken heart. As Aurora grew up, Maleficent look after her from afar. The hatred, bitterness and coldness remains but a change was beginning as the story moves on. A certain look of fondness and long forgotten love and joy was slowly creeping in. But it was still subtle until the end of the story.

Maleficent looking at Aurora from afar.

At the time when Aurora was 15 and came in full contact in Maleficent and Maleficent allowed herself to come in contact with Aurora, even though her manner was still cold, distant and hard, it can be seen in her eyes that Aurora brought back the joy and life into her dark world, melting her harden heart and restoring her broken soul. Aurora became that ray of sunshine in her dark world, slowly bringing back the softness from her youth into her eyes. Regret and lost was felt when Maleficent found out she could not revoke the curse.

Maleficent talking to Aurora.

The curse took hold of Aurora and the pain of losing yet another person that she loved so much and this time it was her own doing can be seen full blast on her manner and her eyes. The tears signify how much she cared for Aurora and her fondness and love for her. She lost the sunshine of her life. Behind that cold and hard manner, there was a vulnerable side of Maleficent. The regret, pain and lost was felt so deeply. But joy, fondness and love leapt into her eyes as soon as Aurora opened her eyes and said "hello, Godmother". The hope and joy can be seen in her manner and her eyes. She believed in true love again.

At the end, though her manner was still somewhat lacking the initial eagerness of life and was more towards a dignified quietness, but the look of contentment was there. Her world was no longer dark and her broken heart and soul was restored by this bright ray of sunshine. The softness and joy was back but a certain subtleness of lost and pain can still be seen. Was it because of the death of Stefan? Who knows. When she sore high into the sky with her mighty wings, the freedom and strength was restored.

At the end when Maleficent's wings were restored, soaring high up it the sky.

Again, true love is not limited between a man and a woman. It comes in many forms. In the movie "Frozen", the true love between sisters was portrayed. "Maleficent" portrayed the true love between a mother and a daughter. Society and media nowadays have limited our understanding of true love. Now it is time for us to breakthrough the traditional thinking and bondage we have tied ourselves in and understand the real meaning of true love. "Maleficent" has properly portrayed one of the many sides of true love. I think it is a movie worth watching.