Maleficent

I will never not defend this film. to me, this is the greatest live-action adaptation that disney has ever produced (and probably ever will). the original sleeping beauty is already a masterpiece, but this expands on it thoughtfully instead of copying it 1:1, giving us new perspectives and surprises. maleficent is the strongest disney villain, and angelina jolie was the perfect casting choice. elle fanning‘s aurora feels authentic too, and diaval in human form is just very cool!! this was THE villain origin story in film before joker, cruella, venom, and the rest. the story is simple but so good and resonates emotionally without being overcomplicated. pacing + runtime = perfect. also, james newton howard’s score goes hard. the cgi is solid (the three fairies are creepy, but everything else works fine). in my opinion, this film gets overlooked way too much. it’s okay if you don’t agree with me, I just wanted letterboxd to know. thanks for coming to my ted talk.