Maleficent: Mistress of Evil: Film Review

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil: Film Review

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam Riley, Robert Lindsay, Ed Skrein
Director: Joachim Ronning

The MVP of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's slightly drawn out, thinly plotted very familiar story is not Angelina Jolie's angular angry fae, sadly.

It's Michelle Pfeiffer's scheming Queen, who dominates every scene she's in with a cool menace and is in serious contention for one of the most terrifying villains Disney's ever committed to screen.

In the sequel to 2014's Maleficent, Jolie returns as the icy fae, who this time around has to contend with her adopted human daughter Princess Aurora (Fanning) consenting to marry beau Prince Phillip.

Invited to a family dinner to celebrate, and with most of the kingdom terrified of Maleficent due to a smear campaign that's passed into lore, Jolie's fae explodes when pushed to the edge. Blamed for sending Phillip's father into a coma and cursing him, Maleficent has to contend with a daughter rejecting her too, as well as discovering that she is not the only one of her kind...

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is not the strongest of films to be honest, in terms of plot, and execution.
However, it is a strong one for its messages.

It sidelines Maleficent and the wonderful Jolie way too much, consigning her screen time to too little when she should shine. Thankfully, she makes the most of her moments on the bigscreen, whether it's trying some forced humour with her sidekicks ahead of the family get together or wrestling with the discoveries she makes - the film is less without her around.

As mentioned, Pfeiffer owns her role from the moment she appears, oozing malice and menace with equal aplomb, and providing the backdrop for one of the most truly horrific sequences ever executed in a Disney film inside a church.

There are overtones of refugees here, overtones of humans pillaging and destroying the species of the earth and expressions of the horrors of exterminations and genocide - all relatively dark themes for a family friendly film. And director Joachim Ronning subtly blends them in to weave a film that may be solely headed just for a CGI fight sequence at the end, but that truly does pierce the heart with its horrors.

There's nothing new here in truth, but that's not to deny the impact of what transpires.

It's just a shame that this Twice Upon a Time yarn holds off from wielding its greatest asset - here's hoping a further sequel makes Maleficent as magnificent as she deserves.