Obviously I’m a huge Disney fan so I’m always up for experiencing any new Disney movie; although, we all know that the sequel usually isn’t as good. I love a Disney classic and am always interested in a retelling of a tale from the villains point of view; Wicked is literally my favourite thing. But I’m not a huge fan of Angelina Jolie… Luckily I do remember enjoying Maleficent, unfortunately, I haven’t seen it since it was out at the cinema so I had to do a quick refresher for myself of the story, so I thought I’d share it with you too…

Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent is an innocent, loving, young girl who’s life comes crashing down when she is scorned by her true love (Stefan) and then her kingdom is invaded by the King’s army; including Stefan the boy who left her. Maleficent successfully defeats the King’s army, but on his deathbed he declares whoever kills Maleficent will have his daughter’s hand in marriage and become King. Stefan returns to kill Maleficent, however, cannot bring himself to do it, instead he cuts off her wings and presents them to the King. Bent on revenge, Maleficent curses Stefan’s first born child; Aurora, that she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel at the age of sixteen and fall into a deep sleep.

As Aurora gets older, she begins to develop a relationship with Maleficent who becomes fond of her. She attempts to undo the curse, however, the curse was created to only break with love’s true kiss. The fairies tell Aurora of the curse and she runs back to her father’s castle. Her father locks her away for her own safety, however, a spinning wheel magically appears and she pricks her finger on it setting the curse in motion. Desperate to undo the curse, Maleficent takes Philip; Aurora’s love, to her in the castle. However, his kiss doesn’t break the spell. Maleficent tearfully apologises to Aurora and kisses her on the forehead breaking the spell with her true motherly love.

The film ends with Aurora being crowned Queen and joins both lands together with Prince Phillip at her side.

So now for the new film…

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

Aurora (Elle Fanning) is settled ruling the Moors, but when Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson) proposes to her, her perfect life becomes a lot more difficult. Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) isn’t a fan of Prince Philip and isn’t supportive of the engagement. When King John (Robert Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) invite both Aurora and Maleficent to their castle for a celebratory dinner it is apparent to everybody that it is not going to end well. When Queen Ingrith plays on Maleficent’s insecurities about her relationship with Aurora she loses her temper and things quickly go south. Aurora is stuck in between Maleficent and her fiancé’s family and has to uncover where her loyalties lie and both characters go on a journey of self-discovery.

My favourite thing about this movie was definitely Maleficent’s costumes! Considering she basically just wears black, there was some really nice outfits. Especially compared to Aurora’s drab “pretty” outfits. My second favourite thing was the fact that Robert Lindsay was the Prince. Who would ever have thought that Ben from My Family would be a King married to Michelle Pfeiffer?!?! You’ve got to love Hollywood! On the other hand, I feel like Michelle Pfeiffer always seems to play this evil Queen character and I’m over it; okay in reality it might only be in Stardust she plays it but I like that film and have watched it a lot!

There was a couple of really love nods towards the original animated Sleeping Beauty which I appreciated, whilst being quite a dark and at times violent alternative. And yes okay, Angelina Jolie was actually really good. I now really wish I was dressing as Maleficent for Halloween!