The follow-up to the 2014 release Maleficent, one of Disney’s very first live-action remakes, is actually a thoroughly engaging family fare, even if it is a little on the scary side for some younger viewers.
Disney
Who would have thought that 2014’s Maleficent was to spawn a sequel? As one of the Mouse House’s very first live-action redos, and despite garnering some rather average reviews upon its initial release, the film was a massive hit for the studio pulling in well over $700 million from the worldwide box-office. Its success could be the reason why we are being inundated with countless revisits to most of Disney’s greatest animated hits, so a sequel was most likely to be put out there if screenwriters were able to find a way of revisiting the Moors.
In this pretty decent sequel, Aurora has sat on the thrown of the Moors for five years. Maleficent (a returning Angelina Jolie) is now perfectly chilled and is happily living as Aurora’s adoptive mother, whilst still being the almighty ruler of the land. However, things change when Aurora announces her engagement to the handsome Prince Phillip (newcomer to the series Harris Dickinson) whose father and mother sit as King John (Robert Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) of the neighbouring kingdom of Ulstead. A dinner to unite the two families is organised and it soon becomes apparent that Ingrith has more sinister plans for the lavish wedding to take place.
Related: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil trailer
Angelina Jolie is, once again, superb as the title character with Elle Fanning equally absorbing as the returning Aurora. A number of new characters are introduced in this new story; a pixie named Lickspittle (a superb Warwick Davies), who is putting together a lethal powder that can be turned into a weapon to turn all fairies to dust, and Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ed Skrein as Conall and Borra, two of many Dark Feys that Maleficent meets when she is injured after fleeing the engagement dinner.
Pfeiffer is a worthy, very nasty villain in this new piece, matching Jolie’s screen-presence from this and the first movie, while the very talented Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats) slots into the role of Prince Phillip, one left by Brendan Thwaites from the first movie. Scheduling conflicts reportedly prevented him from returning for the sequel.
The narrative and action move along at a leisurely pace, speedy enough for the viewer to remain engrossed, though some elements of the story are extremely dark in places, prompting the question of who the movie is aimed at. It’s on the harder side of Disney family entertainment, but by the end, the resolution does swallow up some of the mild violence from earlier on which is very unsuitable for younger family members.
While clearly not the target audience, I rather enjoyed Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil. Like Aladdin, which was released in the same year, ‘Maleficent 2’ is one of the stronger of the Disney live actioners, certainly superior to its predecessor and well worth the purchase. Just be warned of some extreme ‘mild peril’ throughout.
Bonus features:
Aside from a trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Onward, as well as a look at the forthcoming live-action version of Mulan, there were no bonus materials included on the DVD review disc we viewed.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is out now on digital download and available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD.
