Dir. Joachim Rønning
Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil is the confusingly named sequel to Maleficent five years ago- a movie that went through great pains to show us that Maleficent is in fact not evil. There’s some explanation as to that title in the film but it doesn’t really relate to Maleficent’s growth as a character. I assume they’re leaning on her history as one of Disney’s most intimidating villains for marketing but it is so at odds with how they’ve written her in these movies, I can’t see the point of it. This movie takes place 5 years after the first. Aurora is the reigning Queen of the Moors and when she gets engaged to Prince Phillip, they hope to bring unity to the kingdoms of Fae and Human. However her re-entry into human society causes a crisis of identity and meanwhile Prince Phillip’s mother has her own nefarious plan for the Moors.
The most remarkable thing about this movie is how extremely long it is for no discernible reason. Films targeting children tend to be short so as to not tax their demographic’s attention spans yet this felt like the creators were actively searching for ways to drag out the runtime. By the 3rd act of the movie, I could hear the children in the theater with me getting restless.
To push this 2.5 hour film to the absolute limit, the writers sacrificed basically every character’s brain cells. Scenes that could have been 2 minutes long became 15 as the characters ran around through a CGI action sequence before finally doing the obvious. At one point, as the villain monologues to Aurora at the top of a broken tower, the 12 year old boy sitting next to me says “just push her off” in the irritated tone of someone with far more sense than the characters on screen.
When the run time isn’t being stretched by characters being dumb, it’s being used for swooping aerial shots of the magical Moors. I make fun of James Cameron’s Avatar a lot for being one of the most forgettable movies in history, (what’s the main character’s name? You don’t know) but its impact is perennially felt in the field of flying through CGI landscapes lit by bioluminescent plants. This movie is very pretty but it felt (much like Lion King earlier this year) like an exhibition of what wonders can now be computer generated without any heart or reason to what we’re seeing.
That being said, this movie introduces us to the Dark Fae, the species of fae to which Maleficent belongs, and they’re cool as hell. They share her wings, horns and devastating cheekbones and live in isolation to avoid the ever encroaching threat of mankind. The biggest problem with the Dark Fae was that they weren’t the stars of the movie. I can’t imagine creating and developing this species and than making the movie center around Aurora and Phillip’s wedding instead. Wouldn’t it make more sense for a Maleficent movie to be about her? Her history? Her people? Instead she’s relegated to a glorified supporting character.
Focusing on the Dark Fae more also would have made the central conflict far more believable. Tensions are high between humans and fae from the opening minutes of the film, but the arrival of the Dark Fae next door would have made a much better inciting incident. The humans perceive it as an invasion of Maleficent-level threats and react accordingly, the Dark Fae respond to their fear and violence with violence of their own- tired of the suffering they’ve suffered at the hands of humans. The end result is a much more plausible reason for war than just one angry queen doing evil for reasons- even if she is meticulously armored in gorgeous jeweled armor and portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer.
The performances are mostly decent across the board. Angelina Jolie is still a magnificent Maleficent and whenever she’s on screen- I’m sold. Sadly she just isn’t a major force in this film even though it bears her name; she’s a problem and a solution and sometimes a mother- but she could and should have been more. Michelle Pfeiffer is a fierce war-monger but I admit I’d have enjoyed her performance more if it had been a bit more campy. Because the character is so 2-dimensionally written, bringing some of that Stardust level Drama might have brought this up a level. Elle Fanning is pretty and has large eyes brimming with dainty love or righteous indignation and that’s all this role really asks from her. As I said earlier, the potential of the Dark Fae really grabbed most of my attention. There’s one fae with white hair who I was obsessed with on SIGHT. I’d have traded in every scene with Aurora and Prince Phillip happily just to hear this one random character speak.
This film also continues a tragic Disney trend of underutilizing Chiwetel Ejiefor. First in Doctor Strange, then Lion King, and now this. It’s like they’re smart enough to cast him every time and then hope he’s just naturally good enough to elevate the bland dialogue they give him. He tries his best but they don’t give him much to work with.
The tone of this movie swings wildly from one extreme to the other. It begins with poaching and murder, then the movie is a happy fairytale, and then by the time of the final battle there is a literal massacre. Genocide f o r k i d s! And then there’s a happily ever after that ignores the alarming body count of the battle that was barely a few hours ago. I always enjoy children’s movies that aren’t afraid to explore dark themes in a palatable way but this movie just showed violence and then said “Time for flowers and hugs, let’s keep it moving”.
As far as unasked for sequels go, this isn’t the worst movie it could be but it was way, way, less than the sum of its parts. It sidelined Maleficent in her own movie for the far less interesting, and not well-written shenanigans of the humans while throwing away a prime opportunity to explore a new and interesting realm of magic and fae. If you enjoyed the first movie, I think this could be worth a watch on a rainy afternoon- but save your money and wait for On Demand.