Hero, or villain? What we grow up thinking, is not always the case.
In the vein of WICKED – another retelling of a classic story with a mistakenly-maligned woman – the iconic yet deadly beautiful Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty has oft been painted as the evil witch putting a curse on Aurora. But what’s her side of the story? What lead her to curse the baby princess so? We find out it was her disappointment at true love, with a human – and human greed – that leads her to this dark place. Ultimately, the black-winged fairy Maleficent will show her true colours, and whether or not she truly is a villain, or in fact, a hero.
I saw the film last Monday and loved it, although it was far from perfect. I was surprised it wasn’t darker, in fact, it would be fine for older primary school children to view; whenever it gets too dark, it quickly pulls back. Angelina Jolie plays her beautifully; hardly ever smiling, but always sensitive, and I was rooting for Maleficent the whole time. Her costuming moved from woodland fairy softness through to the black leather that resembles something Christian Siriano would do in the avant garde section of Project Runway. Elle Fanning didn’t have much depth to her character as she was the light counter foil to Her Darkness, but played it without seeming idiotic or annoying, mostly. The three fairy guardians do the annoying bit. Brenton Thwaites as her Price Phillip looked like the missing member of One Direction. I didn’t really care for the 3D nature of the film, I don’t think it was used to the best effect. One of the best roles was Sam Riley playing Diaval, a raven companion that shapeshifts into human, wolf, and dragon form.
Disney’s Maleficent opens 29th May 2014 in New Zealand cinemas and coinciding with that, MAC Cosmetics have a beautiful makeup collection branded with the film’s black wing logo and gothic text on the packaging. Lipstick ‘True Love’s Kiss’ ($44) comes in a black bullet case with ‘Disney Maleficent’ in silver with the black wings in matte black. The eyeshadow palette ($115 with Ground Brown, Concrete, Carbon, and Goldmine) has a clear lid with the logo and black wings, as does the red Lipglass ‘Anthurium’ ($42). True Love’s Kiss is similar to MAC Russian Red, and Anthurium has a slightly more raspberry tone to its red. Beauty Powder is a MAC must-have and this collection has the logo compact in shade ‘Natural’, a soft peachy pink ($60).
True Love’s Kiss Lipstick
Eyeshadow Palette
Lipglass and Lipstick
Below: I swatched Anthurium in two ways: one coat for a sheer, daytime look, and secondly, two coats for a full-coverage, high-impact red or evening look.
MAC Maleficent is a limited edition collection so don’t wait for your true love to kiss you – get in quick to MAC stores from 29th May.
Words and photos, Megan Robinson
29 May 2014
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