She's not so bad, She's Just....misunderstood.

I had a sense this movie was going to be uninteresting: just another repetitive damsel in distress film (but told from another perspective). In some senses this turned out to be true; however I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie did have some redeeming qualities in it.

For starters, and I hope this doesn't spoil too much, but it is NOT the same story the animated version tells. this was great because there's really no point in re-hashing a story everyone knows already. If you go to see the movie don't expect everything to line up even though the same basic setting and characters are involved. Its best to just watch the story unfold as if you've never seen its predecessor. I want to take some time to review each aspect of the film then give it an overall score.

Graphics, visual and audio effects: 8/10
The CGI was pretty good but you could definitely tell the difference between the live action and the animated parts. You get to see some pretty interesting creatures and environmental effects like the huge impassible brambles definitely set the tone for a fantasy movie. I thought the choice of how to render the fairies was unimaginative, but it was nice that they had live action roles to supplement the CGI for part of their screen time.

Music: 5/10
You could hardly notice it was there. To me that says how bland it was, although, to the composer's credit, at least it didn't distract or take away from the films beauty and storyline.

 Acting: 8/10
Anjolina Jolie really made the character come to life. Her voice acting was probably the best she's ever done, but the real treat was her facial expressions which conveyed her emotions and character so well she wouldn't have to say much (if anything at all). Every time You'd get a close up of her you knew you were in for a treat. You can just imagine exactly what she was thinking in the moment. She was so alluring and easy to empathize with I totally fell in love with the character. Maleficent pretty much Is the show, so the other actors aren't of much significance which is a good thing because the other actors were subpar. Other reviewers were critical of the actress selection for Aurora because she was homely and plain. You need to remember this is a different story than the original. Aurora plays a vastly different role in this version. Viewed from this light the actress selection was perfect.

Dialog 5/10
Maleficent has some good lines but really there was no really powerful or emotionally charged dialog. Its really bare bones and superficial (almost if it was rushed or cut). It gets the plot line along but little else.

Plot: 9/10
I'm going to give a short spoiler free description here, but you can read my opinions on the ending HERE. (<--click link to read)

 I love antagonists with dynamic personalities and maleficent clearly fits this bill. You get much more of the back story in this tale to show who Maleficent really is, and what her motivations are. You'll find yourself cursing her at some points and cheering for her at others (and maybe even crying for her). This is a much better story from the original, but it does steal/borrow from other famous movies/books especially the ending. I could tell how the movie was going to end about halfway into the movie (I'm betting the average person could do the same) but that doesn't ruin the tension of the story because it makes you REALLY want to see that ending happen.

OVERALL SCORE 8/10
Definitely worth watching(more than once) for children and adults who don't mind a romantic fairy tale.