What is good, bad and Maleficent about Mistress of Evil

Angelina Jolie is back as Maleficent and this time, she is more powerful than ever. While she spent the first part of the franchise mostly without her wings, this time she has wings as well as reasons to use them in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

The story takes place five years after Prince Phillip met Princess Aurora; now they both are adults and he wants to marry her, much to the opposition from his mother Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) as well as Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) who still doesn’t trust humans.

How Queen Ingrith uses Aurora’s innocence to her advantage and whether Maleficent manages to prove that she isn’t guilty of anything is what Mistress of Evil is all about. There are some reasons that will compel you to watch this Disney flick whereas there are a few that might make you step the other way. Read on and be informed before making a final decision.

1. Angelina Jolie gives a brilliant performance
One of Disney’s fiercest creations is back and this time, Angelina Jolie gets a chance to show her other side as well. Instead of being all serious like she was in the first part, now she tries her hand at comedy and excels. The scenes where she tries to fake a smile are as entertaining as the ones where she is angry or finds out that there are more in the world like her than she thought. How she manages to emote so many expressions and still end up being cheered for is something only Angelina Jolie can demand.

2. Elle Fanning looks drop-dead gorgeous
Five years back she was a princess who survived a curse to become a queen; now Elle Fanning’s character is on the verge of getting married and nobody could be happier. The actress looks like an illusion throughout the film and delivers a power-packed performance where her expressions tell a tale of shock, betrayal, and happiness within 2 hours. Whether she is dressed in a normal outfit or a wedding one, she takes your breath away, as any Disney Princess would.

3. Michelle Pfeiffer excels in the Good Queen-Bad Queen role
One of the best actresses from the 80s and the 90s, Michelle Pfeiffer gets to play the main antagonist in the film, a role only an actress of her calibre would have been able to do. Her Good Queen – Bad Queen acting is the highlight of the film because one moment she is the ideal mother, the other she is a woman you wouldn’t want to be on your side. She has the most number of scenes in the film after Angelina Jolie and she proves here that age is just a number by giving her very best.

4. Sam Riley entertains in his limited appearance
He was Diaval in the original and also in the sequel; as a shapeshifting raven, Sam Riley has a lot to offer here. He keeps the Princess safe when Maleficent is not around and doesn’t leave her side for one instant because he knows her since childhood. The actor gets all the chances in the world to prove his worth; his interaction with Maleficent especially when she is trying to fake a smile is incredible. Same goes for the final scene where he tries to make Maleficent realize that since she was in human territory, she should act like a human, instead of a fairy.

5. The story moves at a faster pace this time around
Unlike the last flick, the plot moves much faster in the sequel; no time was wasted here since the relationship between Philip, Aurora and Maleficent was already established. The new entrants had ample scenes to establish themselves and that’s why within the first half-hour, Maleficent is on the run and Aurora is blaming herself for bringing her into the human world.

6. Chiwetel Ejiofor makes his presence felt in an important role
Chiwetel Ejiofor celebrates his onscreen union with Angelina Jolie after Salt (2010) by saving her character from certain death in one of the scenes. Although the award-winning actor’s role in the film isn’t that major the scenes he shares with his former co-star are priceless as they give the plot a new dimension and all the actors associated with the film a chance to give their best onscreen.

7. Ed Skrein doesn’t impress in front of Maleficent
Maleficent isn’t alone in the world and this film tells us just that; however, the actor chosen as her male counterpart was not just miscast but misfit. Ed Skrein looks good in films where he is the main man, but here he looks a little disillusioned as any actor of less experience would in front of Angelina Jolie. The actress commands respect through her work and it would have been better had an actor with more experience and believability been cast in place of The Transporter.

8. Robert Lindsay’s King could have been shown powerful
And then there was the King who was so powerless and stupid that the audience wanted him to sleep his way through the film. He was cursed into a deep sleep but was unable to tell his folks that he was pricked, not cursed. His return at the end did give the film the closure it needed but it would have been better had a) a better actor been cast in his place and b) he shown some muscle instead of bowing down to his wife’s wishes.

9. The plot resembled Game of Thrones than Sleeping Beauty
Betrayal for the sake of power, framing others for something they didn’t do, a huge marriage and the union of two sides; the plot of Maleficent 2 resembles Game of Thrones than a fairytale. It would have been better had the influence of the TV show been less obvious because Disney’s target market comprises of kids and they are least interested in who wants to be the king and more interested in the wedding that no one wants to take place in the first place.

10. Greda looks more abnormal than loyal to the Queen
Jenn Murray plays the Queen’s right-hand woman but she comes out more as an abnormal person than a loyal one; her mannerisms suggest that she was infatuated with the power-hungry Queen but since it’s a Disney film, you don’t think much about it till later. The scene where she plays a huge piano could have been done well had her actions been close to a normal person, instead of an obnoxious one. No one seemed to have sympathy with her character throughout the film, and it would have been better had she not been there at all.

11. Too much Special Effects are always damaging to the eye
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil had too much Special Effects, considering it is a fantasy film loosely based on Sleeping Beauty. Unlike the first part, this one goes overboard diverting the audience’s attention from the story to the surroundings. They end up more into the boredom zone than in the happy zone where they should have been, considering the film deals with a gigantic wedding, a union between fairies and humans.

12. The title is super misleading and gives vibes of a standalone film
Maleficent is not the Mistress of Evil in this sequel; why did the producers go for such a name is a mystery. In fact, it is Queen Ingrith who does all the bad things here, and it would have been better had it either been Maleficent Vs Mistress Of Evil than what is eventually was. The film does give vibes of a standalone film due to its title but don’t be fooled by it, Maleficent does everything right just as she did the last time, and makes you want to see her in more adventures.