By Quinn Marcus

(2019)

AGE: 12+

70% SWEET/SOUR

So What's The Story?

Five years after the events of Maleficent took place. The creatures of the Moors are finally living in peace. Soon, Price Philip asks Aurora to marry her. Forcing Aurora and Maleficent to attend a dinner celebration at Prince Philip's castle where they meet the king and queen. This was all apart of the wicked Queen Ingrith's plan to keep Aurora in the human world and to kill Maleficent. She only partially succeeds. Maleficent is found by her own kind who takes her in and shows her their world. As Aurora tries to find Maleficent and the queen's plan for war is underway Maleficent must decide to attack or to make peace with the humans of Ulstead.

Is It Worth Your While?

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is another surprisingly decent Disney film this year. Although it does not create enough reasons to establish its own existence, it is worth the trip to the big screen. Before I begin I would like to start by saying that this was the first film that I had seen alone in the cinema. Because of this, I noticed the difference between being alone and having friends or family with you. When I was alone getting into my seat, I noticed the audience's little conversations that they were having. Whether it was business or how they thought the film was gonna be, it was nice to hear them. During the trailer of Last Christmas, a few people sang the song. Most of all though, after the film the audience clapped which showed me that audiences love the film. That was something that deeply influenced my review. Although it's great to have friends with you, they talk a little too much during the movie. When I'm hanging with my brother or Papa, it's awesome but I worry about what they will think of the film. However, when I was alone, it was my own opinion influenced by the audience's reactions. It's great to have a group with you but the experience that I had alone was definitely something new and great. First of all, we have the directing by Joachim Ronning. Director of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (30% sour). A change-up of the director gave me a huge sense of some difference between the original (55% sour) and this one. For starters, the action scenes are directed beautifully. The cast worked well together and was well picked. Plus some comedy which was added was a good addition to the film that blended well with the otherwise meh story. Next, we have the special effects. Like the original, the effects were dazzling, colorful and well made. The final battle was nothing short of eye-popping and some shots were even beautiful. Third, we have the script and story. I thought that these two things together tried to express some sort of message but never really succeeded. As well as this, the natural generic formula of Disney remakes was stained all over Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Story of the classic, with a few twists that sometimes work. However, they did attempt to make this a little more fun than the original and tried to more deeply express the characters. Overall, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil had good directing, stunning visuals but a script and story that rely on the generic Disney remake formula too much.

How Was the Cast?

The cast in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil commits to this flawed but not doomed film. First of all, we have Angelina Jolie as Maleficent. Being the only amazing thing in the original besides visuals. Angelina Jolie continues to bring the iconic Disney character to life with a funny and dramatic performance as the leading role. Next, we have Elle Fanning as Aurora. Her performance improved from the original film. She seemed more focused and worked a little better with the cast as well. Although she still seemed too jumpy at times she provided a solid performance. Third, we have Harris Dickinson as Prince Philip. A change-up from the original's Brenton Thwaites as Prince Philip. Harris Dickinson provides a somewhat robotic but generally agreeable performance in the movie. He never really seemed to change his tone and the rest of the cast seemed annoyed whenever he acted. Fourth and finally, we have Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrid. She was a solid villain, scary in a darkly comedic way and a good addition to the film getting a sufficient amount of screentime.

Aging 'The Moors'

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil has some dark themes and might be a little too intense for younger children. Fairies die, there is a huge moderately violent final battle at the end. Two men are seen killed by trees. However there is a positive uniting two different kinds of people type of message. Which may or may not be acquired by the targeted audience. Overall I recommend this film for tweens and up.