For some of us, Disney’s live-action efforts have always been mired by a question of necessity. Their three “converted from animation to the realm of the living” attempts this year alone have all felt like needless rehashes with one intention: to make the Mousehouse money. We've had almost a dozen since the practise really kicked off in 2010 with Alice in Wonderland, with 2014's Maleficent having long felt like their one attempt to do something different, diverging from its roots by delivering an origin story for the Sleeping Beauty antagonist. Now going off book (or film, rather) for the sequel, can Mistress of Evil cast a new spell over audiences?
With the land having mysteriously forgotten Maleficent's (Angelina Jolie) hand in lifting Aurora's (Elle Fanning) curse, tensions remain fraught between the creatures of the Moors and the kingdom of Ulstead. Aurora's forthcoming marriage to Prince Phillip offers a potential union, but all hope is destroyed when King John is cursed, seemingly by Maleficent, with his wife Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) vowing revenge on her kind.
Maleficent 2 has to do a little bit of pulling and prodding with its premise from the very start: namely, telling you in the introductory voiceover to forget what you were told in the first film. While it half-heartedly attempts to explain this away at a later moment, it’s indicative of a problem Mistress of Evil faces in its storytelling: it's very convoluted. We ricochet between the script's scattered narrative beats, barely missing the plot holes that threaten to weigh down this picture entirely. Where ambiguity would bring an element of surprise to the feature's twists and turns, one character's true nature is not remotely disguised and robs Mistress of Evil of the fun building to such a reveal could offer. All in all, Mistress of Evil's three-person screenplay is weak, particularly coming undone in the middle act, where the various plot strands become unsatisfyingly disconnected. Thankfully, it recovers for a comparatively successful finale.
It is visually far more sophisticated this time round. While the CGI of the three fairies remain an utter eyesore, there's something less artificial about the rest of the world; the production design is impressive, with the majestical moorlands particularly well-realised and contrasted strongly against the concrete kingdom. When they combine in the big finale - a thrilling spectacle that works against the odds - it's difficult not to find yourself immersed in the big battle which commits to its insanity and then some. Director Joachim Rønning helps convey the fairytale elements with scope and strong vision, and while his frustrating habit of drawing out character introductions is a little tiresome, Jolie and Pfeiffer are both more than deserving of their dramatic debuts here. Rønning's work here results in a flawed yet enjoyable chapter in the Maleficent tale.
Jolie is, once again, magnificent as Maleficent, selling the dramatic nature of the role while imbuing it with both comedic undercurrents and a tinge of melancholy that textures her "villainous" turn phenomenally well. Her second act subplot is the least interesting of them all, a rehash of several “species vs species” tropes we have seen before (most recently How To Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World), but her towering performance prevents it from being a complete write-off. Pfeiffer plays it wonderfully camp and is similarly domineering in her performance, although the film misses an opportunity to really deliver on the promise of Michelle vs. Angie, with only one real shared scene that appears to be over before it has even begun.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is an enjoyable-enough sequel, and one of Disney's stronger live-action efforts of the year. Warts and all, Jolie's fantastic titular performance, and the introduction of Pfeiffer, culminates in an entertaining fantasy sequel whose underlying theme work and impressive finale go a long way in ensuring that this perhaps unnecessary sequel leaves an impression. A big-budget fairytale which splashes the million dollars on the screen, for better or worse, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is not a curse you should fear.
6/10
Summary: Neither a wholly successful blessing nor an avoid-at-all-costs curse, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil has Angelina Jolie's magnificent titular performance and a throughly enjoyable finale to thanks for helping this muddled yet entertaining sequel cast its spell.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is an enjoyable-enough sequel, and one of Disney's stronger live-action efforts of the year. Warts and all, Jolie's fantastic titular performance, and the introduction of Pfeiffer, culminates in an entertaining fantasy sequel whose underlying theme work and impressive finale go a long way in ensuring that this perhaps unnecessary sequel leaves an impression. A big-budget fairytale which splashes the million dollars on the screen, for better or worse, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is not a curse you should fear.
6/10
Summary: Neither a wholly successful blessing nor an avoid-at-all-costs curse, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil has Angelina Jolie's magnificent titular performance and a throughly enjoyable finale to thanks for helping this muddled yet entertaining sequel cast its spell.