At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

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MPAA Rating: PG/ Genre: Fantasy-Adventure/ Stars: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Harris Dickinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple,  Lesley Manville, Warwick Davis/ Runtime: 118 minutes

When I had a chance to reflect on the 2014 fairy tale Maleficent, there were only two words that most quickly sprang to my mind; those two words just happen to be “Missed Opportunity.” The reason I say this because while there are actually a few good ideas packaged into the movie as a whole, the finished product manages to get tripped up when it tries to combine all of them into one cohesive film, and ultimately there is just a general messiness in terms of the final product’s quality that I feel is the reason this movie, despite being financially successful, honestly didn’t catch on as well as it could have with both critics and audiences alike.

Thankfully we now have, after 5 years, a sequel to the original cluster heap, and surprisingly Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, by expanding the story beyond the source material and also bringing in several compelling new characters, is a step up from the first movie you most likely don’t remember….albeit a step up that still comes with some pretty significant filmmaking issues attached to the finished product, but a step up all the same.

The plot is as follows: Five years after the events of the first movie, we see that not much in our characters lives in has changed as we see that Princess Aurora rules over the Moors with warmth and humility, while her godmother, Maleficent, continues to treat most things with at the very least a grouchy contempt if not just straight up savagery. Of course for Maleficent things quickly proceed from normal to worse when Prince Phillip decides to get down on the proverbial bended knee and propose to Aurora…….much to Maleficent’s serious misgivings about the whole idea. Of course things don’t really improve much when Maleficent has the chance to meet Phillips’ mother, Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), a woman who harbors quite the extreme prejudice against magical creatures of any sort, and with the seeds of chaos planted, we are soon treated to a resulting conflict that has the extreme potential to threaten to end the world’s long reigning peace between humans and mystical creatures, and plunge both parties in a deadly war….

Now although the film does stick to the world that its predecessor established, the team of creatives behind this film manage to do an incredible job of introducing an entirely new world within the one we thought we all knew from the story through a  cast of characters in the Dark Fae. Led by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ed Skrein, think this film’s fantasy takes on Professor X and Magneto from X-Men respectively, these new humanoid critters really contribute a new, interesting angle to this time-honored story, and it really is a shame that that they don’t play a larger role, but with how this one ends, maybe a 3rd one can fix that (?)

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the rest of the cast is just as impressive starting with Jolie returning to camp it up as the titular knife-cheek boned dark fairy herself although in this one we actually get a little bit more pathos from her than I was expecting to get, and Elle Fanning who manages to once again exude just the right touch of humility, warmth, and grace in her role of Aurora. The big get that this film managed to score however, is screen icon Michelle Pfeiffer, and she manages to just flat out excel at her attempt to bring to life the new and potentially dangerous character that is Queen Ingrith. Indeed Pfeiffer is a joy to watch as she manages to flit between maternal warmth and militaristic brutality with a remarkable and wonderful to watch ease. Of course the only problem I have with all of this is the fact that this film plays out like a fantasy version of Michael Mann’s Heat when it comes to how it handles the 2 heavyweight Hollywood actresses that is Jolie vs. Pfeiffer. I say that because truthfully they have maybe only 15-20 minutes of screen time together, but what a glorious 15-20 minutes it is watching these 2 legends spar back and forth with each other with the dinner scene between them, Aurora, Prince Phillip, and Phillip’s father the King a true highlight….if not eerily reminiscent of a similar one from Shrek 2.

Now the film’s director, coincidentally the same guy who gave us the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, actually proves that he possesses quite the skill when it comes to visualizing the fantasy world this film has to offer up. Indeed it should go without saying, but there will definitely be plenty to marvel, pun not intended, over with special regard going to the subterranean nest of the Dark Fae that literally seems to contain about 5-10 separate worlds therein alone. Unfortunately I feel that where this film may lose a crucial number of viewers is the narrative. *sigh that’s right movie goers; once again this saga involving our favorite horned dark fairy ultimately showcases that it is infinitely more interested in the fairy-tale universe it inhabits than the predictable story it’s telling. Now while this can sometimes function to the film’s advantage, it more often than not doesn’t and, as a result, the film does feel way too stretched out for its own good. Nowhere is this clearer than in both the first and third act of the film as there are more than one sequence in those 2 acts that honestly should have been tightened up, but because they weren’t it is ultimately detrimental to both the movie’s pace and the audience’s engagement with the story.

Another item that immediately jumps out to me about this film is seeing with wide-eyed wonder just how far the computer animation department at the House of Mouse has come as the effects on display herein truly showcase the leap and bound progress Disney has become known for. Indeed the world that this film is set in looks almost real and the truly compelling character work for the different CGI fantasy characters means they actually look more kind, and alive, rather than creepily dead-eyed as we have witnessed in previous live-action ventures…..although to be fair there are a couple that look as if their design may have been borrowed from a certain galaxy far, far away shall we say……

All in all Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is an ambitious fantasy epic that, like the film that preceded it, still seems cursed when it comes to the ideas of pacing and tight storytelling. However astonishing visuals and a truly game cast really go the distance and help elevate this film to the status of a fun popcorn fantasy flick that simultaneously pays tribute to its genre roots yet at the same time also aims to create a truly magical and wonderful fairytale world. On a scale of 1-5 I give Maleficent: Mistress of Evil a 3 out of 5.