Well, Well, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is Here and it's Magnificent!
Thank you DISNEY for inviting me to a pre-screening of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil picks up five years later, with Maleficent’s adopted daughter Aurora the Queen of The Moors, the magical fairy homeland of Maleficent getting engaged.
Aurora and Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson, replacing Brenton Thwaites from the first film) hope their engagement will finally unite the human and fairy worlds. While Aurora and Prince Phillip are glistening with joy, Maleficent isn’t taking the news as well as expected.
Maleficent does her best to plaster on a non-threatening smile and master the art of small talk to impress Phillip’s parents, King John (Robert Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer). It’s hilarious and Jolie nailed it!
Maleficent has accepted the invite to a royal meet-the-parents dinner and Aurora asks Maleficent to wear a shawl to hide her horns, which she happily does to please her daughter. Phillip’s dad King John (Robert Lindsay) is all about bringing peace between the Moors and Ulstead, even though his wife Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), has no desire for peace and has her sight on war.
Getting these two powerful moms around the dinner table goes exactly as you would think, horrifyingly disastrous. When the King gets mysteriously cursed during dinner, Queen Ingrith is quick to blame Maleficent and Aurora sides with Phillip’s parents. Maleficent is crushed, she flies off only to be wounded by Ingrith’s sinister henchwoman Gerda (Jenn Murray). Ingrith sets her diabolical plans in motion, while Maleficent is nursed back to health by a legion of Dark Fey. Maleficent learns more of her origins among her people, how they’ve survived and what's needed to keep them safe. This is where our story begins and it’s incredible.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is, dare I say, better than the first. The mother-daughter relationship is beautifully written, the push and pull of mother and child is captured in raw beauty and pure perfection. As parents, we want to protect our children and to keep them safe from the world. We give them wings to fly and when they do want to take flight our heart feel like it’s being clenched and breathing becomes labored, however, know that you’ve done your job, they’ll know how to fly and if they fall or falter it will be ok.
There was one scene towards the end, I won’t say which, I felt like my heart stopped and cried uncontrollably. With every scene, you’re mesmerized and invested in each character. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the perfect balance of good and evil. Now, if you’re wondering if it’s okay to take your kiddo, yes, my little sidekick loved Maleficent!
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” is a fantasy adventure that picks up several years after “Maleficent,” in which audiences learned of the events that hardened the heart of Disney’s most notorious villain and drove her to curse a baby Princess Aurora. The film continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within. The film is directed by Joachim Rønning from a story by Linda Woolverton and a screenplay by Linda Woolverton and Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, the film is produced by Joe Roth, Angelina Jolie and Duncan Henderson with Matt Smith, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Michael Vieira serving as executive producers.