‘Maleficent’ a fresh take on classic fairytale

The story has been told over and over again. A beautiful princess, cursed at birth by an evil sorceress. The king and queen release her into the protection of three fairies for 16 years or else risk their daughter’s sudden death via a pointy object.

When Maleficent first hit theaters, I thought it would just be another adaptation of the fairytale. The story had already been narrated by the Brothers Grimm, Disney, and various live-action films. What difference would it make that the movie would tell the story through the villain’s point of view?

The difference, I soon learned, was a big one. The movie followed the plot of the tale, but it added a whole new dimension to it. I believe Maleficent went the extra mile because it provided background information on the characters and why they made the decisions that they did, particularly through the perspective of the titular character, Maleficent.

The story begins before the actual events of Sleeping Beauty take place. Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) is a powerful fairy who lives in the Moors, a magical forest realm that lies in dispute with the human kingdom. As a young girl, she meets a human peasant boy named Stefan (Sharlto Copley). The two fall in love, but Stefan’s ambition to become king causes them to grow apart.

Years later, the human king Henry tries to conquer the Moors, but Maleficent, who has grown into a protector role, fatally wounds him. The dying king declares that whoever kills Maleficent will be given the title of king as well as the hand of his daughter Leila. Stefan overhears this and visits the Moors to carry out the deed, but he cannot bring himself to do it. Instead, he drugs her to sleep and uses iron, which burns fairies, to cut off Maleficent’s wings. He then presents them to Henry as evidence of her death.

This is where the movie provides excellent characterization of the often overlooked and misunderstood Maleficent. I never liked how the Disney movie neglected to explain Maleficent’s motive for cursing the infant Aurora. In this movie, Maleficent is wingless and agonized by Stefan’s betrayal. Hence, her reason to wreak havoc on the royal family: revenge against her ex-lover.

In this sense, Maleficent picks up where the fairy tale left off. However, it provides much more depth than Disney offered to us as kids. For example, it portrays Maleficent differently than its predecessors, instead of acting as the ruthless villain, Maleficent plays the role of the wronged fairy who acts as she does in order to salvage what is left of her heart.

Maleficent’s sensitive side is a recurring theme in the film, thanks to a cleverly constructed plot on the part of the director, Robert Stromberg. Due to the pixies’ lack of expertise in caring for Aurora (Elle Fanning), Maleficent reluctantly starts to look after the young girl from afar. This leads to an encounter between the 15-year-old princess and the would-be villain, during which Aurora refers to Maleficent as her “fairy godmother.” From this point, Maleficent has to struggle between her developing fondness for the princess and the realization that she has placed a nearly irrevocable curse on her.

As the plot of the movie unfolds, Maleficent does not disappoint. The movie takes a fresh look at a worn out tale, providing a revolutionary perspective of its cruel antagonist. I believe that Maleficent is an inspirational film because it has to change the way people look at the story of Sleeping Beauty. It tells the tale, but in the end the viewer has the final say as to how he/she wants to interpret the movie. I would recommend Maleficent to anyone who wants to consider a different opinion on the tale, based on the words of Aurora. “In the end, my kingdom was united not by a hero or a villain, as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain. And her name was Maleficent.”