Maleficent is the other side of the story of Sleeping Beauty. When I was a kid, good guys were good and bad guys were bad, and there wasn’t much in between. Even kids movies these days often offer more shades of grey, and such is Maleficent. In this movie, you see what drove her to darkness to become the villain we all know from the story, but also how she came to redeem herself later. Like most people, her story is much more complicated than a simple evil witch intent on destroying all that is good.
The initial previews for this movie (from quite awhile ago, Disney’s been hyping this one for some time) made the movie seem darker than it ended up being. When the final rating came down as only PG, I knew it would be more kid friendly than initially expected. And I think it does make a good kid’s movie. It offers something for adults, including spectacular visuals and decent acting by Angelina Jolie, but there isn’t too much substance here. However, kids should love it, and the younger in the crowd did ooh and awe throughout the film. The ending is a little predictable, but like most Disney movies, I think there is enough here that kids will want to see it again and again. For me, once is enough.
Jons Movie Takes 