Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Disney’s "Maleficent" debuted to moviegoers Friday, but some critics warned fresh spin on its “Sleeping Beauty” classic may be too dark for the film’s youngest viewers.
“I wouldn’t take a kid under 5 to this movie,” said Steve Salles, a critic for KSL NewsRadio’s Movie Show. “I think it’s too dark in tone and you’re going to have nightmare kid — kid screaming in the night.”
Salles said the PG rating the movie received was “misleading” and doesn’t adequately warn parents of the darker, scarier content contained in the film.
“It was big, it was loud, it was scary,” Salles said. “And little kids were clutching each other like, ‘Oh no! This is awful!’ ”
Salles wasn’t the only critic to add a cautionary line for parents in his review.
“Have I mentioned yet that this is not really a kids’ film?” Christopher Orr parenthetically noted in his write-up for The Atlantic.
Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson noted the “arbitrary doom and gloom that won’t so much frighten children as depress them.”
However, children in Utah who were interviewed after seeing the film seemed to like it.
“It’s a good movie, so it should be this way,” said Andrew Walker, who attended “Maleficent” with his father.
Brielle Dent attended the movie with her father and brother. She said liked it, but she did have her share of scares that caused her to jump.
Several adult moviegoers also favorably viewed the new spin on the classic.
“I thought it was a great story,” said Ryan Dent, Brielle’s dad. “It wasn’t what I had grown up with as a kid.”
Jen Toa came to Megaplex Theatres at Jordan Commons on Friday without her son.
Related Story:
Is 'Maleficent' worth your time?
The highly anticipated "Maleficent" is now in theaters, but is it worth your time?“I have an almost 4-year-old son,” she said. “We left him with grandma and grandpa — just to stay on the safe side — and then we can watch it and see.”
After the moveie, Toa said she believed the movie would have been too scary for her child, but not for a niece who is older.
While it was too early to gauge how popular the movie will be, Megaplex Theatre's vice president of marketing, Jeff Whipple, noted movie houses regularly see good results from the latest Hollywood formula of edgy, darker reboots.
“Films are maturing with the audience,” Whipple said. “A generation grew up with the original stories, so when they come to see it again, they’re ready for something a little bit different.”
Salles said parents should simply research the movie and do what’s best for their children — not taking little ones if they’re likely to be scared.
