Maleficent The Magnificent

My short review of Maleficent; it does not contain spoilers, though I do elude to certain things that take place in the film. This is your only warning. Proceed at your own caution. 

Maleficent is magnificent; a tale of lost wings gained by the strength of one’s own redemption. If ever there was a role Angelina Jolie was meant for this is it. To say I was lost in her acting is an understatement. I was mesmerized and awed by the way she spoke and moved. She, Maleficent, is graceful as she is statuesque, but her power comes from a great loss, a betrayal, and broken trust. Not unlike the stories many women share.

Maleficent, as you may have guessed, in the retelling, is a misunderstood fairy whose act of revenge is not as simple as lust for malevolence, but rather, at its core, a story of a wronged woman who gave her heart to the unworthy person, and was severely punished for it. And through this betrayal, she is transformed, as many women are transformed, into a settled darkness that masks the reality of a wounded soul.

From the moment her wings were clipped - a metaphor of abuse - she had to fight to find herself again (very much like anyone who has dealt with an abusive relationships). To reestablish the strength she once had, and let her darkened heart grieve - though, she grieves in a fantastical manner - then to forgive herself for the acts she committed, for the mistakes she cannot reverse.

The curtains - or in this case- the walls of thorns is pulled back to reveal, what I love the most, a side to the original story that explores the notion not all is what it is seemed. In a world where only the victors write the history, to tell the narrative from the other side is to paint colors into a human experience that often has been written in black and white. Not all is simple, and not all heroes are villains and not all villains are heroes. Sometimes, they can be both, and in the end, this is the most human tale of all.

The film does an amazing job at building a healthy relationship between two women that become, by all accounts, an unlikely alliance - an alliance that a cruel, patriarchal society cannot mar. A journey from innocence to an abusive betrayal over the lust of power, transforms this classic Disney tale of a classic villain to a feminist icon of which wounds are healed by the power of love - a love between two women that in their own ways right the wrongs and find their wings to fly again.

I give this a 2/3 on the bechdel test. There are more than two named women in this film that speak to each other, and though often not about a man, it is a Disney fairy-tale, which means talks of princes is almost certain. Entertaining as identifiable, Maleficent will have you wishing for a sequel. #yesplease