Review: Disney's MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL is a Sequel That Fans of the First Movie Will Enjoy
I wasn’t a big fan of the first Maleficent movie. I didn’t care for how they handled the character. They took this incredible and awesomely evil character from Sleeping Beauty and turned her into a heroine of sorts. Maleficent is one of my favorite all-time Disney villains, but I just don’t like how these live-action films have handled her.
Regardless of what I think, there are a lot of people that did like the first Maleficent film and those people are probably going to love the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This movie was made for the fans, and doesn’t really do much to embrace the evilness of the original character.
In this next chapter of the story, Prince Phillip and Aurora get engaged, and to celebrate, Maleficent is invited to the castle for dinner. While there, Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) purposefully goes out of her way to insult Maleficent and piss her off to cause a rift between her and Princess Aurora. Queen Ingrith is looking to start a war with the magical inhabitants of The Moors to destroy them, because apparently she feels the kingdom is threatened by little fairies and other fantastical creatures.
While the queen is looking to destroy, the King and the Prince are looking to unite the two worlds and bring them together. As you might imagine, Maleficent is hesitant with this and she is struggling with what to do. But, since Maleficent is the title character and she can’t really be a real villain, you all know how the story is going to play out.
There’s also a whole other random side story where Maleficent all of a sudden learns that she’s not the last of her kind. There are more of her kind that have been in hiding because they were driven out by the humans. Some of them want to got to war with the humans as well.
Angelina Jolie is fantastic in the role of Maleficent. This is really a perfect character for her to play. I just wish that she got to play the real version of Maleficent. The movie also starred Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harris Dickinson, and Ed Skrein, all of which were fine in their roles.
The movie was directed by Joachim Rønning, who previously helmed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The best film that he’s made in his career, though, was a little movie called Kon-Tiki that you have to see if you haven’t already. That film landed him some exciting Disney gigs, but they’ve been mediocre films.
These movies are just a little too silly for my taste. I’m obviously not the market. This movie was made for kids and for fans of the original film. There are audiences that will love it! If you liked the first movie, then yes, go see Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, you’ll enjoy it! If you didn’t like the first movie, chances are you won’t like the sequel.
