MOVIE MONDAYS: MALEFICENT
Last Saturday, I was quite the not-so-impromptu social butterfly... sort of. I had lunch at Bella Italia with a good friend of mine and it was the first time I ordered something other than pizza *collective gasp*. Now, now don't be silly, of course I haven't quite made the jump to ordering salads as a main meal; I wonder if that day will ever come haha. After that long overdue catch up I hopped on the train to Leeds to see two very special ladies in my life - my sister, K and Rach. I went on one of the quickest shopping trips with my sister to help her find suitable beauty bits and bobs for her first uni End of Year ball. Once we were happy with the purchases we said our goodbyes and I made my way to see Rach. Having a good ol' chinwag with this girl is one surefire way to brighten up my mood and cause me to show off my version of a megawatt smile. But amongst the talking and eating, one very important item on our agenda that evening was to see the new Disney film, Maleficent.
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As you would expect by now, I had not seen the trailer for this film but from its title I gathered that Maleficent would at least be based on the story of Sleeping Beauty - one of my all time favourite Disney films as a child I really need to kick-start my Disney Films Series again. And indeed it was but, as you probably have guessed already, the focus was more so on bad ol' Maleficent. For those of you who are not familiar with this story go grab a copy of Sleeping Beauty and watch it!
In an attempt to not give away any spoilers here is my blurb:
Maleficent is the story of how Maleficent, played remarkably well by Angelina Jolie (Salt; Wanted; Changeling), became the evil fairy that terrorised a certain Kingdom far, far away and placed quite a grievous curse on young Princess Aurora. There are so many twists and interesting new additions within this movie that, to me, makes it a new story in its own right...with characters with the same name as those in Sleeping Beauty haha. The unique storyline for Maleficent was put together by Linda Woolverton (Alice In Wonderland; Mulan; The Lion King) and was brought to screens in cinemas near us under the direction of first-time director, but talented visual effects artist, Robert Stromberg. Also, I thought it prudent to mention that the hair, make-up, costume and special effects teams did a fab job I thinks. From Maleficent's cheekbones to the seamless transfigurations of certain characters, there is no way you can deny the effort put in to making this a real and fascinating world.
The cast was fantastic in my ever humble opinion. The chemistry between them was there and there was a healthy mix of new and more well known actors in this film. The other leading lady in this film is none other than Elle Fanning (Young Ones; We Bought A Zoo; Super 8) who starred in this movie as the beautiful, kind and caring Princess Aurora. I absolutely adored her wardrobe in this film; the colour palette, shape and the subtly intricate details of the costumes definitely were to my taste. Her father, King Stephan was played by Sharlto Copley (Elysium;The A-Team; District 9). Would this be a Disney film if there were no prince?The driven, caring and well-mannered Prince Phillip was played by Brenton Thwaites (The Signal; Oculus; Home And Away). The number of British actors and actresses in this film threw me a little and made me wonder if there was a magical place that lay beyond a veil I could not see right here in "sunny" UK. Boy does my imagination make me sound slightly loopy. There were a couple familiar faces -Imelda Stauton (The Awakening; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Chicken Run) and Juno Temple (Lovelace; Wild Child; St Trinian's) - and some not so familiar - Leslie Manville (Fleming; Another Year; Vera Drake), Sam Riley (13; On the Road; Control) and Isobelle Molloy (EastEnders).
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If you are fan of Disney, magical creatures and a bit of action then this might be something for you to see. Although this film did not wow me because I feel the story lacked a certain something (can't quite put my finger on it), I did however enjoy the opportunity to understand Maleficent a bit better as well as being whisked away to a world that believes in magic.
What have you seen in the cinema lately?
Mo x