The movie begins with a young Maleficent wandering around the enchanted woods of her home. A human wanders in and takes something that doesn't belong to him. Maleficent is sent to make him give back what he has taken. In the end Maleficent and the boy become friends, and she believes that they have fallen in love. But, as is the truth with most humans, he had ambitions which she could never understand, and they took him away from her, until he took something special away from her (and no, it wasn't her virginity, this is still a kids movie). We think we know the rest of the of the story, betrayed Maleficent curses baby Aurora, when Aurora turns sixteen she pricks her finger, and a nice prince kisses her to wake her up. This is not exactly what happens in the movie, MALEFICENT.
Angelina Jolie did well in her portrayal of Maleficent, and Elle Fanning was excellent in her portrayal of Aurora (although the character did not need a lot of backstory). The movie twisted the story as Maleficent found herself caring for the young princess, and did not let her die in several of the accidents the princess could have died in. Maleficent does try to take the curse off of the child, but finds that once a curse of that caliber is created it is impossible to take it back. This led me to believe that the movie was about controlling your temper, because sometimes you can't take back the things you say in anger. It also seemed to be about how love can overcome all, and you don't always need a prince to protect you, or help you become who you are.
While this was a little heavy handed, I did see the value of teaching these lessons to young ones. The effects in the movie were simply gorgeous, although the fairies sent to protect and watch over Aurora could have use a little bit of work. Most of the other effects were well done.
This movie didn't take a lot of thought, and I wouldn't say it was the movie of the century, but it wasn't bad for a Disney flick. I enjoyed it, and it made me have some of the feels. I think it might be a little too intense for young children, but it does tell a good story. And it does a good representation of what the story could be.