Once upon an Evil Fairy...

Directed by: Robert Stromberg

Music by: James Newton Howard

Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl... That's the main beginning of every princess that Disney has created. A little girl who lost one of her parents or both and had a tough childhood who also felt threatened by an evil witch, until she got saved by a handsome prince that gave her a true love kiss and they lived happily ever after.

That was the story told through years and years to little girls who grew up idealizing this idea. The thing is... times have changed and this kind of vision is not welcome anymore. Little girls now are thought to be strong and confident. They don't need a man to feel this way.

There's a new trend going around of movies that don't focus on romantic relationships but focus on female leads who shows strength and other types of relationships, like friendship. Following the lead of Snow White and The Huntsman, Brave and Frozen that has strong female characters, Maleficent tells the story of a powerful fairy who lives in a magical forest that it's threatened by a corrupt human kingdom. Maleficent explores the untold story of the most iconic villain of the popular fairytale called Sleeping Beauty. In this version we see sides that are not commonly told such as Maleficent growing up, falling in love with a human being and the reason behind her choice of being "bad".

Humanizing the villain is not a new pilot for stories. Making the audience feel sympathy for the "devil" has been done for the past several years. But the movie finds its strength in the paths chosen by the character and also by the impact of the actress. Disney created a different kind of fairytale that doesn't quite feel like the "villain redemption" that has been tried by different movies. The movie wonderfully works with simple feelings like friendship, loyalty and love. We got to cheer for the villain ~ not so villain after all and see a beautiful relationship between Maleficent and Aurora.

Angelina Jolie, never seeing before in a work like this, does an amazing job as Maleficent. The different shades of her face and tones of her voice while saying sentences like "Well Well" makes you truly believe how evil she is. At the same time, when she finds herself crying due to Aurora situation. She never loses her path as

she goes from dark to innocent. It moves you to really feel and cheer for this character no matter what. With such a wonderful job it's almost impossible to notice anyone but her. It's her show. But Elle Fanning does a very well job, as simple as princess Aurora can be.

The effects, as it is well known in Disney movies, are exceptional. The costume designers and makeup artist, does quite a remarkable job. The implants on Maleficent face, for example, are one of a kind. The movie score is made by James Newton Howard, known for also have worked in Snow White and The Huntsman and The Hanging Tree (song of the popular franchise The Hunger Games).

                     

As Jolie said in one interview "We wanted to tell a story about the strength of women and the things they feel between one another." This is a movie you won't be seeing being praised by the critics but it's a movie you won't mind seeing again. The movie is truly entertaining and it makes you value relationships you have on real life. Every hero has a villain in it as well as every villain has a hero in it.