I went to see Maleficent with my father tonight and just got back. My father wanted to see this movie ever since he saw the first trailer. I for one had been skeptical about this feature from the very beginning. Not just as a committed movie goer and a amateur movie critic, but also as a die hard Disney fan who's been loyal to company through many ups and downs.

When I first learned about the movie, I was a bit skeptical as I learned they were making a movie of how Maleficent came to be. I was hoping they wouldn't go the Wicked route of making Maleficent symbathetic. Like they tried to do in Oz the Great and Powerful and how they did with the Wicket Witch of the West.

Then, I saw the trailer and I had to admit. It looks great. Especially Angelina Jolie. She is Maleficent and owns the part. After many more trailers and commercials, I'm still skeptical, but is hoping this movie will prove me wrong for what I feared.

And.....after I just watched this movie......

....it was as I feared. :(

Maleficent wasn't Maleficent in this movie. The writing was just atrocious. I don't think the writer ever saw the original animated movie or even heard of Maleficent until a few years ago. The story was all over the place, the pacing was off, the characters are useless and felt forced, and it relyed heavily on fantasy CGI a bit. It was beautiful to look at and the acting was great despite the not so good writing. The one scene where Angelina Jolie playing Maleficent as she cursed Aurora when she's a baby was truly powerful and magnificent. Almost exactly like the animated version. Not totally, but it was pretty good. Unfortunately, THAT'S the only scene where Maleficent is Maleficent. The rest......she's not.

I can understand about re-imaginings and create new storylines based on characters and old stories, but....this is not the Maleficent we all know and love. She's not the evil villain we grew up with. She's not the most powerful and evil villain Disney has ever created. Next to Chernabog.

It may sound like I'm ranting, I'm not. It's more of a letter of disappointment from a die hard fan. I was hoping they wouldn't go in that route, but sadly they did. sighs Disney, why are you doing this to us?

[posted this on my FA 3 days ago]