Maleficent Movie Blurb by Shale May 30, 2014 This was the first movie I had planned to see this weekend (Yes, I even see PG rated kid fantasy movies from Disney - I'm old enuf. In fact, Ratatouille was rated G and I really enjoyed that as well). Been catching the trailers and it looked interesting especially Angelina Jolie's character Maleficent, which really looked ... well, maleficent. About half the aggregate reviewers on Rottentomatoes give this a fresh rating and three-quarters of audiences liked it. Most everyone says that Jolie carries the movie. It is basically a retelling of Sleeping Beauty with changes in plot elements telling backstory of how the villain was betrayed and became hardened. "Once Upon A Time" the story starts with two realms, the human Kingdom and the Moors. Those in the Moors lived in harmony without any leaders, except maybe a large winged fairy named Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy). (OK, that is the one bad thing, having the good girl with such a name but it was the name she would grow into and the name from the 1959 animated movie). She meets a human boy for the first time named Stefan (Michael Higgins) but he goes back to the kingdom. Maleficent comes across a crow that has been netted by a farmer who was about to bash it. She saves his life and he is forever in service to her. She has the ability to turn him into a human, named Diaval (Sam Riley) or any other bird or beast as needed. Diaval & Maleficent Stefan (Sharlto Copley) betrayed Maleficent to gain favor with the king and eventually becomes king himself. He marries and has a daughter, which really pissed off Maleficent so she makes a grand, uninvited entrance to the celebration and puts the curse on the child that on her 16th birthday she would prick her finger on a spindle and sleep forever, unless awakened by a true love kiss. The rest of the story is how the king's daughter is raised by three fairies in the woods and how Maleficent follows the child's development. There was even one scene where the todler Aurora comes upon Maleficent and is endearing but Maleficent brushes her away saying "I don't like children" (Knowing Jolie, this is such a strange thing to hear coming from her mouth. BTW the child actor in that scene is her daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.) Maleficent & Aurora - Awkward Meeting Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) is near her 16th birthday and she does meet Prince Phillip (Brenton Thwaites) who is lost in the woods on his way to her father's Kingdom. Here the story plays out like you would expect - a few battles in the castle and the moors, a fire breathing dragon but with a couple more plot twists to get to the final "They Lived Happily Ever After." Prince Phillip Kisses Princess Aurora
