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Maleficent

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for Maleficent PG Released May 30, 2014 1h 38m Fantasy Adventure Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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54% Tomatometer 273 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the invading king's successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora -- realizing only later that the child holds the key to peace in the kingdom.
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Maleficent

Maleficent

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Critics Consensus

Angelina Jolie's magnetic performance outshines Maleficent's dazzling special effects; unfortunately, the movie around them fails to justify all that impressive effort.

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Critics Reviews

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Suzette Smith Bitch Media As the sum of all its parts, Maleficent is a downright fun film. Jan 21, 2021 Full Review Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com Angelina Jolie is good in the film, and I do think kids will dig this movie. Rated: B- Dec 14, 2018 Full Review Philippa Hawker The Age (Australia) It's a splendid-looking film. The effects are striking throughout, whether they are dramatic battle confrontations between humans and the forces of the natural world, or small moments of delicate detail. Rated: 3/5 Dec 14, 2018 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand It is a righteous revenge film, but with a feminist twist and a redemptive journey. Oct 9, 2022 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review By the end, one cannot help but wish that Disney had left Maleficent a fascinating villain instead of a dull protagonist. Rated: 1/4 Aug 15, 2022 Full Review Robert Sims Lights Camera Austin 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 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kelly M Great because Maleficent put a curse on a baby girl called Aurora and the only way to break the curse is with a true love’s kiss. And Maleficent has to defeat this evil king called King Stefan and Aurora has true love called Prince Philip and everyone is happy in the end great movie. 8/10 And we get to see what Maleficent was like when she was little girl and she met this little boy and they became friends and the fairies have to protect Aurora from Maleficent because she put the curse on her. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/29/25 Full Review Pedro Henrique C Maleficent (2014) has a good start with great visuals and great cinematography, but its script is quite weak and uninteresting. Angelina Jolie gives a very good performance. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/25/25 Full Review JACOB B. maleficent was such a good movie because it told the story about how maleficent became evil but she really wasn't evil because she was a fairy who had wings but her wings were cut off when she met Stefan when he was a kid and years later he comes back to see her older and that's when like he gets the idea to cut off her wings so he can become king later you see him known as King Stefan no but you seem maleficent who is now furious and frustrated with that her friend who she had feelings for when they were kids somehow backstabbed her and took something that she had which was her wings NUC that's how she became evil but she wasn't evil she just wanted her wings back and wanted to show Stefan and Aurora she felt like a close bond with maleficent and like maleficent felt like a mom to Aurora because see maleficent caring for Aurora like right in the middle of the movie to wear she's trying to reverse the curse but it's too late and you see like true love kiss didn't work for the prince but you find out that true love kiss is actually maleficent because you can definitely like see the change in maleficent personality on how she went from one revenge to now she's like a mother to a child that is not really hers but she treats Aurora like her own child because Aurora calls maleficent fairy godmother Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/24/25 Full Review Berni P When I first saw the trailer, I was really excited for this movie. Imagine my disappointment, when I saw it. The original Maleficent was - typical for Disney - a one-dimensional villain fighting one-dimensional good people. I hoped that her backstory would flesh her out and make her more relatable. Like why did she become so evil? However, Disney retconned its own work, and simply switched the labels on their still one-dimensional characters. It really seems that Disney is incapable of writing complex, grey or humanely tragic characters - no matter how much money they throw at their movies. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/10/25 Full Review Brent B I really enjoy this film even though I want an original story of Maleficent. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/01/25 Full Review ne u I loved this movie when I was a teenager (and I still do). I liked the second one even better and the third one is finally in the works. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/15/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Maleficent

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Movie Info

Synopsis As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the invading king's successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora -- realizing only later that the child holds the key to peace in the kingdom.
Director
Robert Stromberg
Producer
Joe Roth
Screenwriter
Linda Woolverton
Distributor
Walt Disney
Production Co
Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films
Rating
PG (Sequences of Fantasy Action|Frightening Images|Sequences of Fantasy Violence)
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure, Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 30, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 4, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$241.4M
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, Datasat
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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