Fiesca Oxilia

XII IPS 1 (7)

Maleficient Review Text

1. Orientation tells the background information of the movie

Maleficent is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures’ 16th
animated feature film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). She is an evil fairy and the self-
proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil” who, after not being invited to a christening, curses
the infant Princess Aurora to “prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and
die” before the sun sets on Aurora’s sixteenth birthday.
Maleficent is based on the evil fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault’s
fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, as well as the villainess who appears in the Brothers
Grimm’s retelling of the story, Little Briar Rose. She was voiced by Eleanor Audley,
who earlier voiced Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s evil stepmother, in Cinderella (1950).
Maleficent was animated by Marc Davis. A postmodernist revision of the character
appeared as the protagonist in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent, portrayed by
Angelina Jolie. She also serves as a minor antagonist in Disney’s House of Mouse,
voiced by Lois Nettleton, and as a recurring antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts video
game series, voiced by Susanne Blakeslee. She is also one of several antagonists in
the TV series Once Upon a Time, portrayed by Kristin Bauer van Straten, and the
Disney Channel movie Descendants, portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth, according to
Wikipedia website.

Social function: To critique artworks (films, novels, songs, TV shows or movies) for a
public audience.

2. Interpretative recount tells the plot/synopsis/summary of the story

Maleficent is a powerful fairy living in the Moors, a magical forest realm
bordering a human kingdom. As a young girl, Maleficent meets and falls in love with
a human peasant boy named Stefan. On Maleficent's 16th birthday, he gives her
what he calls a true love's kiss. However, as they grow older, the two grow apart;
Stefan's love is overshadowed by ambition, and Maleficent becomes protector of the
Moors.
When King Henry tries to conquer the Moors, Maleficent mortally wounds him,
forcing his retreat. As he lies dying, he declares that whoever kills Maleficent will be
named his successor and marry his daughter. Stefan calls on Maleficent in the
Moors; he drugs her, severs her wings and presents them to the king. Devastated by
Stefan's betrayal, Maleficent returns to the Moors and turns it into a dark kingdom.
She rescues a raven from some attackers by transforming him into a human. The
animal-man, named Diaval, pledges a life debt of servitude to Maleficent.
After some time, Diaval informs Maleficent that King Stefan's newborn
daughter, Aurora, is being christened. Vengeful and bitter, Maleficent arrives
uninvited and curses the infant princess; on her 16th birthday, she will prick her
finger on a spinning wheel spindle and fall into a permanent sleep. Maleficent mocks
Stefan's plea for mercy, but offers an antidote: the curse can be broken by true love's
kiss, which Maleficent and Stefan believe is nonexistent.
Stefan sends Aurora away to live with three good pixie-fairies to protect her
until the day after her 16th birthday. He destroys every spinning wheel in the
kingdom and hides their remnants in the castle dungeon. Stefan sends his armies to
find and kill Maleficent, but she surrounds the Moors with an impenetrable wall of
thorns to protect herself and the Moors' inhabitants from the soldiers. In trying to
prevent the curse, Stefan slips into madness and paranoia, now completely obsessed
with killing Maleficent, even neglecting to see his wife on her deathbed.
Maleficent finds the pixies and Aurora's residence. As the years pass,
Maleficent watches Aurora grow from afar and gradually begins to care for her when
the bumbling and neglectful pixies fail to properly look after her. When Aurora is 15,
she encounters Maleficent. Aware she is being watched over, Aurora believes
Maleficent to be her "fairy godmother", unaware of the curse the dark fairy has cast
upon her. Maleficent realizes that she cares for the girl and unsuccessfully attempts
to undo the curse, but it is unbreakable other than by true love's kiss. Meanwhile, in
the forest, Aurora meets a young prince named Phillip, and the two are attracted to
each other.
 On the day before Aurora's 16th birthday, Aurora tells Maleficent that she
would like to live with her in the Moors. When Aurora returns to the cottage to tell
the pixies, they reveal the past to her, including the fact that Maleficent has placed a
curse upon her. The upset Aurora runs to her father's castle. To protect Aurora,
Stefan locks her in a room while plotting to kill Maleficent, but the curse's power
draws Aurora to the dungeon. Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle and falls into a
deep sleep. Maleficent, intent on saving her, abducts Phillip and infiltrates Stefan's
castle. The pixies encourage the reluctant Phillip to kiss the girl, but this fails to
awaken her. Subsequently, Maleficent tearfully apologizes to Aurora and kisses her
forehead. She awakens, as Maleficent's motherly feelings for her goddaughter
constitute true love.
As Maleficent and Aurora attempt to leave, Stefan and his guards ambush
them. Maleficent transforms Diaval into a dragon to help her, but both are subdued.
Meanwhile, Aurora finds Maleficent's caged wings and releases them. They fly to
Maleficent and reattach themselves. Maleficent carries Stefan to the top of the
castle's highest tower, but cannot bring herself to kill him, thus deciding to spare his
life. However, Stefan attacks Maleficent as she turns away, and they both plummet
from the tower, entwined. Maleficent opens her wings and Stefan loses his grip,
falling to his death.
Maleficent returns the Moors to its former glory, and gives away her position
to Aurora, who is crowned queen of the Moors, uniting the two kingdoms. Phillip
comes to live with them as well.

Language elements :
a. The simple present tense
b. Compound sentences
c. Complex sentences
d. Compound complex sentences

3. Evaluation states the judgment, opinions about the director, performances of the
main actors, the plot, the theme, the dialogues and comparison with another similar
artworks. It may consist of more than one paragraph
 Two kingdoms exist side by side. The human kingdom is ruled by a greedy king.
The Moors is populated by magical creatures. One day, orphan boy Stefan goes into
the Moors and befriends the orphan fairy girl Maleficent. They grow apart over the
years. Later, the king attacks the Moors and an adult Maleficent (Angelina Jolie)
mortally wounds the king. The king offers his kingdom for the head of Maleficent.
Stefan (Sharlto Copley) drugs her and cuts off her wings. Stefan is given the kingdom.
He has a daughter which Maleficent curses with a sleeplike death on her sixteen
birthday. She can only be saved by a true love's kiss. Stefan tasks three pixies Flittle
(Lesley Manville), Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton) and Thistletwit (Juno Temple) to
guard his daughter Aurora (Elle Fanning) in a country cottage until her sixteen
birthday.

I'm fine with the reimagining of the classic villain. The story works hard to
make her the aggrieved party. The movie looks good. Angelina Jolie looks good but
she's very monotone. It feels a bit lifeless. Maleficent just isn't the appealing
character that a movie needs to build around. It starts at the childhood stage. The
two kids need to have more fun. I understand the need to get to Jolie as quick as
possible but their childhood is nothing more than a weak montage. I like the true
love's kiss. I don't find the pixies all that funny. There are good points and bad points
in this movie.

4. Evaluative summation states final opinions about, recommendation and appraisal or

punch line of the movie
I think Maleficient is a good and unique film although there are still
shortcomings of some aspects, but the meaning contained is already very deep and
the acting of the cast is very good and as always, Disney films never disappoint.