Genre:
Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Produced by:
Angelina Jolie, Joe Roth, Duncan Henderson
Directed by:
Joachim Ronning
Written by:
Linda
Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures
Starring: Angelina
Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Harris
Dickinson, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville
Runtime: 118 minutes
SYNOPSIS:
Aurora (Elle Fanning), a young human-born princess of a fairy land called
the Moors, has settled into a somewhat peculiarly peaceful life alongside her
difficult fairy godmother Maleficent (Angelina
Jolie). But soon their lives get turned upside down when Aurora finally
accepted Prince Phillip’s (Harris
Dickinson) marriage proposal. At the same time, a new evil with a personal
connection to these characters has emerged, forcing the godmother-goddaughter
pair to go on another perilous adventure not only to save the marriage and
their relationship, but also the lives of both mankind and the fairy race.
REVIEW:
A live-action retelling of the Sleeping Beauty (1959) cartoon told
through the antagonist Maleficent’s perspective, the Angelina Jolie star vehicle Maleficent
(2014) might not have been the first of its kind, with that honor associated
with Stephen Sommers’ the Jungle Book (1994). It might not
have even been the highest-grossing Disney live-action remake worldwide at the
time of its release, with it being only second to Tim Burton’s billion-dollar making Alice in Wonderland (2010).
But somehow, it left an indelible legacy in ways that those two titles couldn’t.
Maleficent was responsible
for turning Disney live-action remakes into a yearly tradition. Each and every
year, Disney always releases at least one. More often than not, the next entry
makes more money than its predecessors. It’s no longer surprising that Disney
would then turn their live-action remake experiment into a nearly monthly
tradition. 2019 is only ten months old, but Disney has gotten three remakes out
of the way with Dumbo, Aladdin and the Lion King, with the last two titles being billion dollar
behemoths obviously. At this point, they have exhausted all their resources, so
much so that it’s about time they make a sequel to one of their live-action
remakes.
Five years after the first movie,
Maleficent returns in Maleficent: Mistress
of Evil, the fourth Disney live-action remake in 2019 and the second that’s
a sequel following Alice through the
Looking Glass (2016), with surprisingly little to no fanfare. It doesn’t help that Maleficent was nothing more than disposable entertainment. It
surely doesn’t help that Through the
Looking Glass’ status as a critical and box office bomb highlights the idea
that making a sequel to a successful live-action remake isn’t exactly the best
idea. Regardless though, the cast list is just as star-studded as any other
Disney effort, with the likes of Angelina
Jolie and Elle Fanning rejoining
the Maleficent universe while the
likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Chiwetel Ejiofor make their debut in
the franchise.
And Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil, now directed by Joachim
Ronning of the Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)’s fame and not special effect
artist Robert Stromberg like in Maleficent, leads its top-tier ensemble
to an ambitious undertaking that’s bigger, louder and certainly more
action-packed than the franchise’s previous effort. Heavy on the spectacle and
the popcorn thrills end, it leans much closer into being a Lord of the Rings-lite sweeping dark fantasy epic for preteens and
above and just ever slightly further from the standard glossy, clean Disney
entertainment.
Yet, for all its Lord of the Rings-like battles,
Mistress of Evil’s real crowning technical achievement rests on its costume
design. Ellen Miroljnick serves as
the costume designer for the sequel, replacing Anna B. Sheppard, whose work in the first movie was nominated at
the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design back in 2015, and the level of
craftsmanship shown by her is just as Oscar-worthy as Sheppard’s. Miroljnick dresses
her stars, especially Ms. Angelina Jolie,
in a dizzying array of striking, elaborate costumes that explodes with so much
color and life anytime it’s on screen.
That is not to say Mistress of Evil lacks any heart. The script by Linda Woolverton, Noah Harpster and Micah
Fitzerman-Blue retains just enough of the same endearing mother-daughter
dynamic between Maleficent and Aurora as well as the playful bickering between
Maleficent and her shape-shifting crow right hand man Diaval (Sam Riley) from the first movie into
its sequel, hence giving the movie’s many larger-than-life characters and
stories its rare glimpses of grounded human element. In fact, one of the stronger
aspects in Mistress of Evil is easily
its character-driven first act, in which it focuses more on how Maleficent’s
many interactions with either Aurora or Diaval help her deal with having to let
Aurora go and get married.
This allows Maleficent to be as
fully-realized of a character as or, even to a certain extent, more
fully-realized than she was in the last movie. Woolverton, Harpster and
Fitzerman-Blue pay real close
attention to her character development, offering a pretty deep insight into the
uncertainty a mother as overprotective and caring as Maleficent would face
leading up to her daughter’s wedding and wisely treading the fine line between
keeping the character’s queenly personality intact and getting her out of her
comfort zone. And the film does occasionally find effective ways to address
such serious message with whimsical, accessible sense of humor. Take the scene
in the lake for example, where Maleficent, while preparing to meet Prince
Phillips’ parents, is staring at her own reflection, trying to figure out how
to make a friendly smile. It’s a simple gag, it’s hilarious but most
importantly, it’s surely poised to resonate with the wider female demographics.
Mistress
of Evil
immediately and nicely transitions into a Disney fairy tale spin on the
well-worn get-to-know-the-in-laws comedy formula from classics such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) and
more recently Meet the Parents (2000)
when the godmother-goddaughter-crow right hand man come face-to-face with
Prince Phillip’s parents King John (Robert
Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle
Pfeiffer) for the very first time in the in-laws’ castle. And this entire
sequence is one of the many highlights in the movie’s first act. It’s an
interesting idea on paper and, perhaps a rare word to describe Disney
live-action remakes, original.
And
credit to Ronning, his sure hand
makes everything just as engaging and entertaining on the page as it is
onscreen. The Norwegian might have been known for historical epic and swashbuckling
action, but now, he’s got the right to add situational comedy to the list. His
way of constructing the dinner sequence brims with infectious comic timing,
with a few touches like the castle’s waiters quivering anytime they’re near Maleficent
proving to be highly effective. At the same time, he manages to wring some dramatic
tension in the latter stages when Maleficent and Ingrith start to clash heads. A
few sharp exchanging of words between the two has the crackle of a big action
movie explosion, hinting at a possibly intriguing mind game to come.
From that point onwards though, Mistress of Evil begins to lose track of
whatever story it is trying to tell. The script just goes all over the place, making
for a confusing hodgepodge of anything-goes ideas that seems copied and pasted
from every other Disney live-action remakes and even worse, so haphazardly put
together it all resembles a bunch of scenes unrelated to one another more than
a cohesive plot. For quite some time, the movie meanders along rather aimlessly,
taking forever to get anywhere interesting or settle into any consistent tone. Mistress of Evil cannot help but feel
like the cinematic equivalent of a studio-mandated checklist.
That means somehow relegating Maleficent
to being a supporting character. Take away the first act, then the truth is the
franchise’s titular protagonist isn’t in the movie that whole lot, too often pushed
to the side and rendered almost irrelevant to the story. She spends most of the
second act trying to find her inner Messiah in a land populated with fairies
like her, and yet the journey does very little to her character development.
If
anything, it plunges her into a series of Messianic savior movie tropes such as
the obligatory wise, kind fairy archetype Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), more often than not dreadlocked, convincing her that
she is the chosen one, the obligatory aggressive, war-hungry fairy archetype Borra
(Deadpool (2016)’s Francis a.k.a. Ed Skrein), more often than not
heavily-tattooed, coming in conflict
with the chosen one and doubting her ability, and last but not least, the
obligatory turning-point moment where she’s pondering whether she’s going to help
lead her fellow fairy kind in their revolt against mankind or not. It’s all same
old same old, and told in the most cookie-cutter, perfunctory way possible, as
if this entire storyline amounts to nothing more than time filler.
And in the process, its central mother-daughter
story between Maleficent and Aurora respectively gets further lost in the shuffle.
It is as if the movie hesitates to truly indulge in their family drama, intent
on keeping these two characters separated throughout most of the second act
that the movie just becomes impersonal and less involving. While there are some
attempt to evoke the same dynamic between Aurora and her mother-in-law Queen
Ingrith, they don’t really do much with it beyond some fluffy wedding
preparation montages. It doesn’t help that the movie can’t seem to make up its
mind on what Queen Ingrith’s character is and how she posed a threat to
Maleficent. Is she supposed to take over from her as Aurora’s maternal figure
or something else? Safe to say, the path the writers end up choosing isn’t a
good one.
It’s no longer surprising by then that Mistress of Evil would fall back into the
gigantic third act fight cliché, which looks and feels like a discount rip-off
of the Battle of Wakanda sequence in Avengers
Infinity War (2018), with its Thanos-like
genocidal maniac, a couple of death sequences reminiscent to the Snap and some
Groot-like creatures kicking butt. Despite the similarities, one thing is
missing: dramatic heft. It’s all just huge faceless armies fighting and making
noises and that’s really it. It’s an overlong and overproduced assault on the
senses that gets tiring and repetitive real fast. And the editing style is too
frantic and hyperactive for a movie of the dark fantasy genre, rarely allowing
a moment’s pause to appreciate the breadth of the spectacle, the choreography
of the battles or simply any emotional reaction of its principal characters.
As an allegory on genocide, the manner
in which Mistress of Evil handles
such a difficult subject matter, especially for children’s entertainment, is
just as glossed over and throwaway as anything its writers conjured up in its
second act and, even to a certain extent, its third act, which is a major disappointment
considering how its predecessor handles its own difficult subject matter pretty
well. Whereas Maleficent deals with
its rape allegory subtly and seriously, its sequel deals with the killing of
innocent people in unintentionally hilarious fashion. In that sense, it’s just downright
wrong and insensitive. There is never a moment where the characters realize the
gravity of such a terrifying situation, as the movie seems more than happy to
take the easy, happily ever after ending way out.
And the problematic scene in question
here involves one of the genocidal maniac’s right hands trapping a bunch of
people in a chapel, and later, playing a poison-emitting organ as means of
building up suspense. But the suspense soon makes way for uncomfortable
laughter as the scene goes on and on for about fifteen minutes (granted, the
movie does cut away from time to time to the battle sequences, but still),
straining credulity to the breaking point. It makes no sense, and also, it’s
even harder to keep a straight face with its theatrical, over-the-top presentation,
where the sight of the right hand playing an intense organ solo like it’s some
epic Yanni composition of sort turn
this genocidal set-piece into one big punch-line.
But Mistress
of Evil’s narrative shortcomings aren’t as shocking as its lackluster CGI
work. And the fact that the movie is so heavily reliant on it like previous
Disney live-action remakes does it no favor either, with background design so
artificial it looks like a Microsoft computer screensaver and creature designs
so poorly-rendered they look like video game characters. Ronning’s strange directorial choice further ruins the whole
illusion, with him always showing the digital creations in close-ups to remind
its audience just how fake everything is on screen. For instance, there is a
fully computer generated sequence early on involving the three familiar,
annoying fairies Knotgrass (Imelda
Staunton), Thistletwit (Juno Temple),
and Flittle (Lesley Manville) flying
around the Moors and greeting the many woodland creatures living there, and the
effects here are far too noticeable and unconvincing for anyone to be truly
immersed in its flight of fancy.
If that’s not enough, then the jarring
way it blends the live-action actors in the CGI environment serves as another
reminder. In any scene where the actors are communicating with the CGI
creatures, the actors often look so disconnected with whatever is around them
that they come across as a bunch of lunatics talking to themselves. Not only
with the creatures, but even in scenes where the actors are just standing in
front of the CGI environment, it looks like them standing in front of a
blue/green screen with a low-rent, screensaver version of a CGI forest added
later in post-production.
Even without the CGI, Mistress of Evil is a movie that’s rather
inconsistently-acted by a talented cast of A-listers and breakout stars who look
like they’re not always on the same wavelength.
It’s not the case with Angelina Jolie though, as she delivers
yet again another luminous performance that more than matches her solid debut
as the dark fairy Maleficent in Maleficent
five years ago. She is easily the most consistent performer throughout because
she knows she’s in a Disney fairy tale. For that matter, she embodies much of
the movie’s on-brand fun and whimsy through the way she speaks and reacts that’s
far more magical than its special effect. She also showcases some surprising range
here, able to be as effortless and convincing as a queenly, sharp-witted presence
who gave Michelle Pfeiffer some good
put-downs as when she is Aurora’s caring, vulnerable godmother. If there is any
negative, the movie needs more of her than what’s onscreen.
Elle
Fanning
reprises her role of the Sleeping Beauty herself a.k.a. Aurora in the sequel and
she pretty much gets the job done. It’s her most commercial role to date as an
adult actress, yet it offers only half of what makes her the most talked-about
talent in the indie circle. Radiant, beautiful and perky, she fits the classic
Disney princess mold no doubt, but the script doesn’t give her that much to
work with apart from those simple traits. Fanning
gives a one-note performance that reflects Aurora’s one-note characterization.
She’s unfortunately upstaged by her more experienced acting heavyweights and
reduced to just staring wide-eyed at everything that’s around her and going ooh
and aah.
Michelle
Pfeiffer
is the franchise’s latest addition, playing the role of Aurora’s
mother-in-law/Maleficent’s rival Queen Ingrith, and she is a magnetic screen
presence, in flashes. Pfeiffer’s early
scenes are truly show-stopping, as she makes good use of her star charisma to set
up Ingrith as an imposing, intimidating figure worthy of giving Jolie’s Maleficent her run for the
money. She also gives Jolie a fair share
of good put-downs during the dinner scene. For whatever reason, the movie
decides to waste her talent as she spends the rest of it saddled with bad, flowery
dialogues that no one could pull off, even an actress of Pfeiffer’s caliber. By the third act, she is given very little to
do but yell, “Fire! Fire!” or basically any one-word action movie commands
there is on the book.
Sam
Riley reprises
his role as Maleficent’s shape-shifting crow right hand man Diaval and he is once
again a ray of sunshine here, and his straight guy-funny guy camaraderie with
Maleficent is amongst the movie’s real comedic highs. Meanwhile, Harris Dickinson succeeds the
forgettable Brenton Thwaites in the
sequel as Aurora’s fiancé Prince Phillip, and it isn’t exactly an acting
upgrade as he is handed the thankless task of being just a pretty face. In that
case, he does it well. Chiwetel Ejiofor
plays the wise, kind fairy Conall, and he lends some gravitas to make his nothing
role slightly worthwhile. Ed Skrein plays
aggressive, war-hungry fairy Borra pretty much the same way he plays his
previous roles, using his Jason Statham-like
British gruff to channel meanness.
CONCLUSION:
Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil
finds Angelina Jolie at her
enchanting best on her second outing as the titular character, but even she
couldn’t save this tonal, narrative mess from laughable CGI, bloated action
sequences and startling lack of *ahem* Maleficent in it.
Score: 5.5/10
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