'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' A Review

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a fantasy movie, a follow up to 2014's Maleficent. Maleficent(Angelina Jolie) has given the governing of The Moors to her adopted daughter Aurora(Elle Fanning) but tensions with the surrounding human population remain high. When Prince Philip(Harris Dickinson) proposes to Aurora and she accepts it seems as if peace between the humans and faire is possible but Philip's mother Queen Ingrith(Michelle Pfeiffer) is intent on war.

Jolie brings her considerable presence to bear with more effective wryness in her return to the Disney villain come heroine although the material doesn't meet her performance. It's nice to see her as the past five years or so she's been doing work behind the camera or focusing on philanthropy and activism. She's an unequivocal moviestar and here's hoping we see her more often in the future. Something similar could be said of Pfeiffer who recently reemerged into the mainstream after 2017's Mother!. She doesn't quite chew the scenery but gives a deliciously evil performance that is incredibly pleasing if, as a result of the script, not quite dynamic. Against Pfeiffer and Jolie Fanning is simply outclassed and disappears in her paperthin approximation of a character. And ultimately the whole point of Maleficent is to tell her side of the story and the retcon of a retcon to make Aurora once again a lead misses the point.

Utilizing substantial CGI the visuals mostly err on the side of engaging with only a scene or two artificially rendered into lifelessness. The script is not as tight or clean as its predecessors and as such is bogged down by unnecessary plot convolutions with twists making so little sense as to be laughable.

An enjoyable if imperfect sequel to a significantly more trailblazing original.

Rent It.