Even if Maleficent has its faults, you can experience this one and get some separation from the film from which it takes its inspiration.

| May 27, 2023

It is a righteous revenge film, but with a feminist twist and a redemptive journey.

| Oct 9, 2022

By the end, one cannot help but wish that Disney had left Maleficent a fascinating villain instead of a dull protagonist.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Aug 15, 2022

This isn't Sleeping Beauty as seen through the eyes of the wickedest of Disney villains. Instead, it's a Mouse House live-action revisionist fairy tale that inexplicably transforms the malevolent Maleficent into a misunderstood anti-hero.

| Jan 22, 2022

Angelina Jolie brings humanity to the character... Our villain is brilliantly supported throughout the film by the likes of Elle Fanning, Imelda Staunton and Juno Temple.

| Oct 29, 2021

Despite the romantic short comings, Jolie is perfect as this Maleficent. But did this blow me out of the water? No, sadly it didn't.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 9, 2021

Takes some liberties with a time-honored story, but doesn't stray too far from the necessary fairy tale elements.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 1, 2021

As the sum of all its parts, Maleficent is a downright fun film.

| Jan 21, 2021

Though the changes to the plot become more drastic as the film progresses, the tone remains serious, hinting at how superior a straightforward retelling might have been.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Dec 4, 2020

Even as all sharp angles and dark clothing, Angelina Jolie embodies grace and dangerous beauty, while still possessing a vulnerable side brought on by years of betrayal and mistrust.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 16, 2020

Jolie is mesmerizing whether she's being strong and vengeful or vulnerable and deeply feeling.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 15, 2020

Nearly every character is either dim-witted or just plain nasty.

| Original Score: C- | Jul 21, 2020

No doubt the concept is fascinating, but too bad the movie itself fails to capitalise the potential.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 14, 2020

[T]his extension of the Sleeping Beauty story was breathtaking.

| Feb 5, 2020

Magical. Mesmerizing. Masterful.

| Dec 14, 2019

Its glaring fault is its indecisiveness toward its eponymous malefactor, whose very name means to do evil or harm. The attempt to have it both ways simply does not work.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 30, 2019

The characters surrounding Maleficent became caricatures as if they were pulled directly from a cartoon.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 8, 2019

It's a beautifully designed film, and James Newton Howard's fantastical score is one of his best in years. But what Maleficent most lacks isn't something you can see or hear, it's something you can feel.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 5, 2019

A fundamentally misguided interpretation of the title character, one that seems to misunderstand what drew people to her in the first place.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Mar 14, 2019

While it may in moments be a bit dark for very young ones, it is a great family film, worthy of the Disney canon.

| Mar 6, 2019