As the title might imply, I went to see Maleficent. And IT WAS AWESOME.
Allow me a moment if you will, to explain why... without spoilers.
I've always had a thing for villains. In fact, most of my stories start with the villain. Sometimes, the most interesting person in the room is the villain. For Real, especially for me.
Part of this was because I never quite fit in as a kid. I liked the frilly stuff the princesses wore, but it was impossible to wear those dresses and ride a horse, so out went the dresses. I could beat the guys at all my favorite sports games, but I was never invited to "be one of the guys." The girls thought I was weird because I was all sporty, and the guys thought I was strange because I WAS a girl.
And for this: I was outcast.
And you know who is always the outcast? The villain. I saw it early on, and I chose the villain's path (shakes fists at those fools at the university). I've even claimed that Peter Pan is a tragedy told from the very unorthodox POV of the antagonist's sidekicks.
And Maleficent did something very beautiful with the Villain. They gave the villain the opportunity to not only be redeemed (I'm a BIG Zuko fan, FYI), but to also get to have a complicated relationship.
Also costumes. And badassery.
So yes, a well told story that hit all the feels (and well), and managed to take a classic story, spin it on its head and make something really beautiful. Now, don't mind me, I'll be seeing what I can do to reproduce a set of those horns!
(hey Disney, can we get a retelling of Chernabog tale next?)
I can't wait to see this movie! it's fantastic when you can see a movie for more then just another film, but relatable. :D
ReplyDeleteAhhh - Google keeps eating my comments (if this posts twice - sorry!)
ReplyDeleteMaleficent is on my to-be-seen list, although I'm debating whether to take my other half. My eldest son loved it, but didn't think it was a 'dad' type movie. But then, my husband is partial to Angelina Jolie - not so sure about horns though!
Ohhhh… this totally makes me want to see this!!!! Rena, I swear we are cut from the same cloth or something. I've always loved villains too… I often find myself rooting for them over the heroes sometimes, LOL…
ReplyDeleteGreat review. This gets me excited. :)
Oh I loved Maleficent too!!!! She was always my favorite Disney character, FAVORITE!!! I have re-watched Sleeping Beauty more than any other movie, even Star Wars. I thought they did a great job with her, and WING! Oh my.
ReplyDeleteThen I read a review that pointed out how the movie "reduced" Maleficent to a victim and didn't do justice to her original cunning and mocking personality. Which, yes, I can kinda sorta agree with. But I still loved it. Thoughts???
Ugh, when people miss identify the person suffering a crime as becoming a victim, it reduces their humanity. It's like saying that after being a victim of rape you may never be anything else. Yes, Maleficent was victimized. Did that reduce her? Nope. She fought back. That act became a turning point for her, a moment of great loss that fueled her to do more with her magic than she would have before--just as many of us do more when great hardship and pain befall us.
DeleteThe problem with people going on about crap like reducing her is that her previous incarnation was of a woman slighted because she wasn't invited to a Naming Day. That was the whole motivation in Sleeping Beauty. In Maleficent, her whole motivation was that the boy had broken her heart and physically wounded her, and she wanted revenge. I'm guessing a man wrote this review about Maleficent being reduced by getting to be the vehicle of her own revenge on a man who clawed and schemed his way to the top, even ruining the beautiful love he'd had with Maleficent.
I mean, really, what a fool. He could have ruled with Maleficent in the Moors. And then he sank to the lowest form of deception: poison.
My thoughts: reviewers are stupid. They probably thought Maleficent was weakened by falling in love with the child, by losing her cold hearted-killer instinct and trying to redact the curse. The difficulty is that some people still equate softness with weakness. That loving something makes you weak.
In reality, it does make a person act without logic. It makes people chose poorly even, but never mistake love for weakness. Maleficent was beautiful in her complexity, not reduced. What a fool of a reviewer.