Maleficent 2 – Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

Directed by: Joachim Rønning | 119 minutes | adventure, family | Actors: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Robert Lindsay, David Gyasi, Jenn Murray, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Judith Shekoni, Miyavi, Kae Alexander, Warwick Davis, Emma Maclennan, Aline Mowat

She is one of the ultimate villains of the Disney empire: Maleficent (or Maleficent, as she is called in the Dutch translations). Unlike many of her ‘sisters’, who are hunched over and have hooked noses and large pimples, Maleficent is a sinister yet elegant, tall figure who wears her striking horns with pride and her dark, flowy robes resemble a large bat. The evil fairy dubs herself ‘mistress of all evil’ when she is the only one not welcome at the blessing of the newborn princess Aurora and curses the poor child as punishment: when she is sixteen she pricks herself on a magical spinning wheel and will sleep forever. If it were up to Maleficent, the girl would have died, but the trio of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather stopped just in time. While Maleficent was in and out bad in Disney’s animation classic ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (1959), there was finally reparation in the 2014 feature film named after herself; Maleficent is less evil than misunderstood and tragic. Only wanting to protect her kingdom of The Moors, inhabited by magical fantasy creatures, she finds herself in conflict with the rulers of the nearby land of Ulstead, who are ruled by fear. A personal love tragedy adds fuel to the fire, but at its deepest core, the Maleficent from Disney’s live action films is benign. She even develops maternal feelings for Princess Aurora, despite the curse she put on the girl.

Maleficent is a fascinating character, especially when Angelina Jolie takes over. For the first time since her self-directed ‘By the Sea’ (2015), the actress can be seen in action again – in ‘Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil’ (2019). With her striking appearance – pointy cheekbone implants, bright green eyes, indistinguishable wings, ravishing outfits and of course devilish horns – Jolie once again draws all the attention to herself. But she also hits the right note, says exactly enough and provides the lightest moments in a film that is quite serious in tone. Just like her faithful companion Diaval (Sam Riley) by the way, literally Maleficent’s ‘wingman’. Just like in real life, we are five years further in the film. Aurora (Elle Fanning) is Queen of The Moors and Malificent watches over her. In neighboring Ulstead, however, she is still seen as a dark evil. But the prince of that kingdom, Phillip (Harry Dickinson replaces Brenton Thwaites from the first film) is simply in love with Aurora and desperately wants to marry her. When he kneels in front of her, it turns out that she also listens to it. Because his father, King John (Robert Lindsay), also wants peace between the two kingdoms, the king and queen of Ulstead decide to invite Maleficent to the castle for an introductory dinner. But what should have been a cozy, relaxed dinner is getting out of hand. Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) appears to have secretly planned a war behind the scenes and has employed workers in secret underground chambers who make weapons and ammunition from grave flowers and iron: extremely deadly for everything and everyone from The Moors. Maleficent is mistakenly seen as the cause of the trouble and flees, but is seriously injured. She is rescued in the nick of time by Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), leader of the Dark Fey, a nation of creatures just like her. As she recovers, Ingrith continues her evil plans.

Just like in the first film, ‘Maleficent 2’ is again a joy to watch. You might wonder if the makers might not go a little overboard in their use of CGI, but you can also enjoy the colorful images of the kingdom of The Moors in particular, with beautiful landscapes, funny creatures and imaginative flora and fauna. We also saw many characters in the first film, including the trio of fairies (Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville and Juno Temple). The further decoration of the film is also fine; clothes, makeup, hairstyles, sets are all pleasing to the eye. But we also want to be swept up in the story, and that’s like the first movie, one of the weaker parts of the whole thing. In a fairy tale it may of course be clear who is good and who is bad. But this film is ‘sold’ with the idea that we will see the dark side of Maleficent (she is the ‘mistress of evil’ after all), but from the outset it is clear that not she but Queen Ingrith is the one with the evil intentions. . All sharp edges are shaved off the original character in this way, but those are exactly the qualities that make Maleficent such a wonderfully unpredictable and villainous character. She is made more humane than in the first film and in a fairy tale we are looking for elusive types who surprise us every time with their wild jumps. Luckily, thanks to Angelina Jolie, we’re fascinated by the not-so-evil fairy that Maleficent turns out to be in this film. She outshines (!) all other actors. Fanning is sweet but colorless (we’re used to her better), Pfeiffer tries her best but falls short and Dickinson is a complete mockery. Only Riley and Ejiofor seem to be able to escape the malaise with decent performances. Themes such as people versus nature, racism, prejudice and the perpetual conflict between good and evil are either clichéd, or half-baked, or elaborated too easily.

Despite the mixed acting performances and the flawed script, you don’t have to be bored for a second with ‘Maleficent 2’, because it is amusing by Norwegian Joachim Rønning (‘Kon-Tiki’, 2010, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’, 2017), directed film is. The rich and imaginative landscapes immediately drag you into the fairytale world and even if it lacks the real magic that ‘Avatar’ (2009) did have, for example, with a little good will you can go along with it. Angelina Jolie steals the show in a movie named after her character, but in which she can be seen more often than not. Looking at the range of animated films converted to live action, it seems as if the classics are either literally copied one-on-one (for example ‘The Lion King’, 2019), or are so forced transformed that they no longer have any feeling with the original, like this second “Maleficent” movie. When will a filmmaker come along who has just the right ingredients for this recipe and who can also prepare it deliciously?