★★
Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.
Classification: PG
Despite the epic ambition of its storyline and visuals the sequel to the revised fairytale of Sleeping Beauty is a mediocre and tiresome assortment of bland performances and boring storytelling. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil doubles down on all the elements that made its predecessor interesting with impressive production and costume design but doesn't have any compelling tension with the screenplay unable to create an interesting conflict until a surprisingly interesting third act. Continuing the theme of humans betraying magical creatures, the film focuses on the antagonist Queen Ingrith formulating a plan to kill all of the kingdom's magical inhabitants and destroy a peace possible through the marriage of princess Aurora and her son Prince Phillip.
With Aurora's upcoming nuptials, Maleficent is invited and then betrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer's heinous Queen during a celebratory feast which ends with a cursed King, a new surge for war against magical creatures, and Maleficent abandoned by her own Goddaughter. Even with all this action in the first act, most of Mistress of Evil is dreadfully boring as the actors are unable to bring any of the characters to life. Angelina Jolie's return as the titular character doesn't give her much to work with as her scenes mostly have her looking dour either by physical or emotional pain. Jolie still looks positively stunning in the role, high cheekbones and all but like the film itself, there is a seriously lacking of charisma. This issue extends to the whole cast as no one is able to pull the film out of its monotonous rut even when full-blown fantastical mayhem is bombarding the screen. Simply put there isn't enough scenery-chewing, both Jolie and Pfeiffer are playing characters that would revel in the opportunity to spice up the fantasy with some overacting. However, director Joachim Rønning keeps the film very bleak and serious despite the bright washed-out colour palette of the kingdom.
The dialogue and characters keep mostly focused on exposition about human-fairy conflict. Pfeiffer essentially explaining a new piece of her evil plan and with every new scene and Jolie having to listen to Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ed Skrein as the new Dark Fay voice their grievances against human kingdoms. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick does a fine job in creating impressive, imposing figures with the Dark Fay army, they may not have the same majestic nature as Jolie's but the level of detail provided prevents them from looking overly ridiculous. Maleficent meeting her own kind seems akin to scenes straight out of Avatar or more accurately Ferngully: The Last Rainforest as the screenwriters attempt to add interesting mythology behind her magical abilities. Unsuccessfully however as despite the gorgeous production design, with the Dark Fay caves being the most interesting location of the film, their conflict is very predictable and Ejiofor and Skrein are in typical contrasting pacifist elder and younger warmonger roles.
Too much of the film spends time on trying to get the audience to care for the conflict through lifeless exposition, Ejiofor clad in wings and horns has his thespian charms wasted as he spouts off the same point of peace over and over with no sense of any real character. Jolie's Maleficent doesn't really develop as a character during this reunion with her own kind, as the title suggests perhaps the storyline pushes her to take a more antagonistic approach but her character is reduced to an almost silent figure in the war between the Fay and Humans until its convenient for the film to use her again. The more engaging performance is the one by Elle Fanning as Aurora, but again is let down by poor writing. A predictable storyline about her assimilating into royal life through the influence of the Queen, having her abandon her fairytale upbringing then through realising the Queen's evil schemes sides with the magical creatures.
Michelle Pfeiffer's Queen Ingrith would have been a decent villain with a better script as the character and performance imbues elements of racism, classism, and presents a selfish motivation for her xenophobic actions. Pfeiffer does what she can but its the lack of personality to the film that harms everything about it and that lull throughout the first two acts fails the action-packed finale. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's third act is essentially Disney's first trial run of Game of Thrones complete with murderous weddings, surprising character deaths, epic battles between large armies, and evil queens watching the carnage from their castle. Ingrith has potential because it's clear the screenwriters were channelling Cersei Lannister through their writing as when the character states she wants to kill all the fairies, she follows through. Armed with a substance that can kill a magical creature instantly when struck, the finale of the film has many scenes of adorable magical creatures screaming for their lives as they are senselessly murdered.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil works when it embraces its dark fantasy roots, too much of the film is playing it safe, keeping the Disney sheen polished and not trying to rock the boat. Which is why the third act is such a surprise as Rønning has real stakes and real consequences playout that will shock the complacent audience out of their daydreams. It's not enough to salvage the film as the intended emotional effect hasn't had proper setup but it does show the potential the film did have. Aurora continuing the fine tradition of modern Disney princesses taking charge of their own destiny alongside the supporting characters getting a few heroic moments of their before Jolie's triumphant return. The excitement generated during these sequences is then doused when the Mouse's firm family-friendly hand returns to make sure everyone is grinning and winking at the end almost entirely undoing the film's best moments.
It feels like an unnecessary sequel because of its failure to capitalise on the potential of its story or giving Jolie a more prominent character arc in her own film. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil isn't retreading the exact same beats like more contemporary Disney live-action but still lacks genuine originality to enthral the audience. Disappointing in many ways from the lifeless cinematography that robs the film of any discernable visual flair of its fantasy roots to the predictable nature of the dialogue and character development. The few moments of captivating storytelling are too isolated and leave the audience disappointed that Jolie's remarkable screen presence is wasted.
Director: #JoachimRønning
Cast: #AngelinaJolie, #ElleFanning, #ChiwetelEjiofor, #SamRiley, #EdSkrein, #ImeldaStaunton, #JunoTemple, #LesleyManville, #MichellePfeiffer
Release Date: October 18th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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