In the first Maleficent we saw Aurora was the key to saving the Moor Kingdom and all the fairies living in it. This time around, we see Maleficent is the key to saving everyone, basically. This sequel was gorgeous with its shots and bewitching with its special effects. My only complaint was that it was a little cheesy, but hey, it’s a disney movie! I can’t fault them for sweetness.
The movie begins with Prince Philip proposing to Aurora and their families meet to see if their engagement is possible. Prince Philip’s mother, is Queen Ingrith, played by the spectacular Michelle Pfeiffer. *Spoiler Alerts Ahead* I was going to be so upset if THE Michelle Pfeiffer didn’t play a witchy type herself. I was so pleased to see Angelina Jolie and her play opposites as such strong females. However, I knew there was no way she was going to be a protagonist. It just wasn’t possible.
Angelina did great in this film, again, just as she did in the first. My favorite parts were her practicing her smile to prepare to meet the king and queen. She had no awareness for human “small talk” or automatic politeness. It made for hilarious moments and the whole theater chuckled at her forced kindness. It also spoke to how much she loved Aurora, to make herself go completely out of character.
This leads to her connection to other fairies. We find after Maleficent is attacked that she is rescued by fairies that look exactly like her. There are more! They had to flee and hide to save their kind. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ed Skrein are two of the actors brought in to play others like her. They know she has gone out of her way to love Aurora, but she has no idea about them. Supposedly Chiwetel was supposed to be her love interest. That felt so weak. Although, he did do well as his role as Conall, an open-minded leader and friend to the one fairy who handed rule over the Moors to a human. He was the one who saw there was a reason behind her love for Aurora, and figured that could possibly stretch into an alliance. Ed Skrein did so well as Borra, a fairy who was angry due to their oppression. His anger was palpable and his character’s passion had dimension. He killed his role and his arch was so entertaining to watch.
Ed Skrein played a compelling war leader when it came time to fight for his kind and the fight scenes were dynamic and marvelous. Those scenes and the fairy scenes were entrancing to watch with all the colors and movement and effects. It was incredible to watch. The only problem I had with the film was after the fight, the end became a little cheesy. It was nice to see that they didn’t just do a blanket statement of one kind wins, but it was a little corny. To be fair, though, this is a Disney movie and if kids are watching all that action with the battle scenes, they can possibly make sense of it in their minds with how peaceful the ending is.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil left me in awe of special effects teams at Disney. The movie was so hypnotic in its beauty and its chaos. The actors did a great job as well, playing off of all the intense emotions and the splendor of their surroundings, even in the darker moments. And even if I thought the end was a bit lame, it is a good message that I would want any child to take to heart: peace is achievable and being the bigger person always prevails. I give this movie a 9.
