jolie saves maleficent

Maleficent

Maleficent, the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty. Courtesy: Disney

DISNEY’S self-billed “live-action re-imagining” of their 1959 animated adaptation of Sleeping Beauty overcomes a stuttering start thanks to one steadying factor alone.

In her first screen appearance since 2010’s The Tourist, Angelina Jolie takes hold of the wheel at a critical juncture and steers Maleficent away from near-certain disaster.
The scripting coughs, splutters and seldom makes much sense. The special-effects work borders on terrible. What should be a finely wrought adventure for all ages is fast becoming a feelbad action flick nobody could possibly love.
And then, in the space of just a few scenes, Jolie stops the rot with an inspired and deceptively deep performance.
She plays the title character, a fairy warrior princess looking for revenge on the soldier king (Sharlto Copley) who was once her boyfriend.
With her ex newly married and celebrating the birth of his first child, Maleficent casts an unbreakable curse on the infant.
Should the fair Aurora (Elle Fanning) prick her finger on a spinning wheel before she turns 16 years of age, she will lapse into a coma that can only end with a kiss of true love.
Once the delightful Fanning joins Jolie at the forefront of proceedings, the vibrant chemistry of the pair lifts the film out of its rut.
Aurora accidentally crosses paths with Maleficent. A bond develops between the embittered fairy and the innocent teen that soon has Maleficent considering lifting that famous curse