Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

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Sigh, we just HAD to get a sequel to Maleficent, huh? Yes, Joachim Rønning is directing now, but Linda Woolverton is still involved with the screenplay. Even based on the trailers, this film doesn’t seem any better than its predecessor. Oh well, let’s get this over with. Here’s my review of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil!

And remember, SPOILERS AHEAD!

As the film begins, a narrator re-introduces us to the world we’ve tried so hard to forget.

The young Prince Philip, now played by Harris Dickinson, proposes marriage to the young Aurora, Queen of the Moors, played again by Elle Fanning. Aurora happily accepts and Prince Philip returns to his kingdom to tell his parents the good news. King John and Queen Ingrith, played by Robert Lindsay and Michelle Pfeiffer, respectively, are happy and tell Prince Philip to invite Aurora and her godmother, Maleficent, to dinner.

However Maleficent, played again by Angelina Jolie, isn’t ecstatic about the forthcoming union. It’s not so much that she wants her goddaughter, Aurora to stay in the Moors with her, but she doesn’t think that Prince Philip’s parents and kingdom will accept Moor folk in their land of humans. Nevertheless, Aurora convinces Maleficent to give Prince Philip and his family a chance, so she reluctantly accepts the dinner invitation.

Meanwhile, we discover that Maleficent is justified in her suspicions. Queen Ingrith is shown to have a secret laboratory in the dungeons of her castle unbeknownst to King John. In there, she has ordered a de-winged pixie named Lickspittle, played by Warwick Davis, to work on a formula that transforms Moor folk into flowers.

Eventually, it’s the night of the dinner and Maleficent and Aurora are welcomed by King John and Queen Ingrith when they arrive at the castle. Queen Ingrith also serves as a catalyst for well-needed exposition since we’ve all tried to forget the first film was about.

It’s not long before Queen Ingrith’s feelings towards Maleficent and Moor folk rise to the surface via passive-aggressive remarks and prodding. Eventually, Maleficent loses her cool and King John falls unconscious due to a spell being cast on him. Queen Ingrith immediately blames Maleficent for cursing her husband, but Maleficent matter-of-factly denies. Queen Ingrith even has Prince Philip and Aurora believing that Maleficent placed the curse and Maleficent flies away from the castle.

Unbeknownst to Aurora and Prince Philip, Queen Ingrith has ordered one of her loyal servants, Gerda, played by Jenn Murray, to shoot Maleficent down. Maleficent barrels down to the waters below, but is rescued by another flying creature and taken away to a refuge. The flying creature is Conall, a fellow Dark Fey, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. And the refuge is a remote location for the last remaining Dark Feys who have been forced into hiding from the human world. Maleficent heals there while learning about her heritage and the fact that she’s the last descendant of the Phoenix, a fabled bird that rises from its ashes.

Meanwhile Aurora prepares for the wedding after unable to find Maleficent. Queen Ingrith tries to breed Aurora to be more like a human noblewoman, but Aurora yearns for Maleficent and life in the Moors more and more.

Eventually, Aurora discovers Queen Ingrith’s secret laboratory as well as the cursed spindle from the first film which Queen Ingrith used to prick King John into a spellbound sleep. Queen Ingrith explains that her envy and hatred of Moor folk started when she was younger and their kingdom was more prosperous than the human kingdom. She also blames the Moor folk for the death of her brother. Her plan is to spray the Moor folk who have all been invited to the wedding with the formula rendering them all flowers. She then locks Aurora up in a bedroom of the castle so she can’t warn the Moor folk from coming.

Conall is shot dead due to a skirmish between Queen Ingrith’s forces and the Dark Feys resulting in the Dark Feys launching war on Queen Ingrith’s kingdom the day of the wedding. Prince Philip tries to persuade his mother to stop the fighting, but to no avail.

It all comes to a boil when Queen Ingrith shoots Maleficent who slowly starts to disappear in front of Aurora (who has managed to escape from her bedroom).

But, of course since Maleficent is descended from a Phoenix, she gains an extra life and is reborn from the ashes of her former self.

Maleficent breaks the curse of the spindle reawakening King John. For final measures, Maleficent transforms Queen Ingrith into a goat. The fighting ceases and peace is restored between the humans, Dark Feys, and Moor folk. 

Prince Philip and Aurora finally get married!

Maleficent returns to the Moors, but not before promising to return for the christening of Aurora and Prince Philip’s baby.

And that was Maleficent: Mistress of Evil! Gosh, this was such a boring, tired, incredibly generic movie with no surprised that exists just because it has to! The acting was serviceable at best, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Angelina Jolie giving the best performances. But, I feel Angelina Jolie’s performance was way better in the first film than in this one. The only things I can probably praise are the really nice visual backgrounds, but many times during the film, it’s too dark to see anything.

In short, this movie is just as bad as the original. If you liked the first film, then you’ll probably like this one, otherwise this is a hard pass!

So, my final score for this film is 18/35 = 51.43% (F) !

The next review will be posted on July 7, 2020.