Greetings! I saw Maleficent: Mistress of Evil this weekend and it's quite the conundrum. Some elements were very enjoyable and other components rubbed me the wrong way. Allow me to explain. The story takes place some time after the first Maleficent film ended. Philip proposes to Aurora and she accepts. Their union will bring the human and fairy realms together, but their families don't get along particularly well. In fact, Philip's mother, Queen Ingrith, is planning to wage a war against Maleficent and the other magical creatures. Will everyone sort out their differences or will a bloodbath occur on the moors?
It's always a good idea to begin with some positive elements. The lead characters and the actors who portray them are quite strong. Angelina Jolie is a great fit for the titular lead. She has a lot of range and brings out significant complexity in Maleficent's antihero character. Maleficent is creepy and somehow very likeable. It's very clear that she cares about Aurora sincerely and has her best interest in mind. Elle Fanning reprised her role as Aurora and she plays the ingenue princess fittingly. Aurora seems a little more mature and she's ready to make adult decisions, like running a kingdom and getting married. Sometimes she's a damsel in distress, but it's not an unusual situation for the Sleeping Beauty property. Harris Dickinson portrayed Prince Phillip and he was a quintessential charming prince. Both Phillip and Aurora are very traditional prince and princess characters, which is fine because conventions were broken in other ways. Michelle Pfeiffer was diabolical as Queen Ingrith. I can't reveal many details about her wicked plans because it would spoil the movie, but she's a dark and twisted villain. She seems harmless on the outside, but don't underestimate her. Apparently, everyone's biological parents have to be evil in this franchise. I actually find it kind of amusing. There's a decent number of supporting characters and I believe the actors filled out their roles nicely. The characters weren't the problem. I'll give this film credit for being entertaining. It's not boring and also quite daring on a creative level. I think the filmmakers swung too hard, but that's how it goes sometimes. There weren't any obvious pacing issues and you can count on a huge amount of fantasy elements. Mistress of Evil adds some new mythological elements to the franchise as well. It's kind of fun and interesting. Well, I definitely like the first Maleficent film better. Truthfully, the script is pretty bad. The tone is erratic, the mythology doesn't make a lot of sense, most of the dialogue is lousy, it's convoluted, and the plot contradicts many elements from the first movie. I feel like the actors were given a huge disservice because the storytelling was poor. The visual effects are disappointing as well. Actually, I thought the CGI was better in the original Maleficent film. Everything is unpolished and cartoonish. That's a problem because almost everything in the movie is CGI. The actors have practical effects and there's a little bit of production design. Otherwise, gigantic amounts of the world building and environment are VFX. Let's talk about death for a moment. Many characters die in this movie. That shouldn't be a huge shock because you can see a war in the theatrical trailer. However, it seems kind of brutal and mean spirited. Bunches of characters die in the final battle, which is somewhat appalling for a kids movie. The first Maleficent film doesn't hold a candle to this one. Little kids are going to cry if they see this movie. I'm sure you can imagine how children will handle dozens of dead fairies and magical creatures. But this situation is part of a bigger problem. Who's the target audience? Many scenes and elements specifically cater to children. Yet this film is too violent for younger audiences. I don't understand how this movie earned a PG rating. It definitely needed to be PG-13. It's not gruesome and the death scenes are just glorified animation, but I didn't expect so much violence. This film didn't work for me, but 2019 hasn't been a great year for cinema anyway. Should you see Mistress of Evil in theaters? I would say most people could wait for streaming and Blu-ray if they're interested in Sleeping Beauty or Maleficent. If you're super curious, try a matinee. Don't bother with expensive deluxe screens because the VFX aren't good anyway. I didn't hate this film, but it was somewhat disappointing. What do you think? Should Disney focus more on original properties or continue these remakes and sequels? Leave a comment. I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks a lot for visiting. I haven't figured out next week's topic yet, but it will be interesting. Take care and I'll see you guys next week.
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May 2019
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