Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL - DISNEY

2014's Maleficent was a subtextual examination of the trauma and survival of sexual abuse, its 2019 follow up Malecifent: Mistress of Evil is a socially conscious exploration of racial and political tension. As with its predecessor, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil crafts a breathtaking world full of imagination, colour and vivid life that engulfs the screen with every frame.

Angelina Jolie provides a terrific performance as the titular character, crafting a role with dramatic dynamic layers and weight. A character who has evolved not only psychologically but emotionally from where audiences last found her. Jolie shows remarkable skill with extremely engaging range but also a fabulous dabble of comedic energy that the Academy Award-winning actress is very rarely allowed to exercise. Michelle Pfeiffer digs her teeth in deep as mysterious villain Queen Ingrith. Pfeiffer is delightfull and vibrant as ever, ramming up the flamboyance and Disney-esque villainy to an eleven — that results in a perfect balance of tone for this quite edgy Disney property.

However, with both Pfeiffer and Jolie taking a considerable amount of screentime with their visual prowess, it is unfortunately that of Elle Fanning as Aurora who has the weakest performance. Partly out of the material given via the screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster and Linda Woolverton, but also that of the minimal screen presence Fanning brings to proceedings. Her resulting performance is best described as a fluff piece here that plays more for the better of a franchise rather than this specific feature.

The screenplay and narrative are not the genre-defining pieces of the cinematic puzzle audiences have been looking for. That being said, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil injects a poignant and compelling story that perfectly engages with its target audiences on their level — never patronising or overpowering. It is fun and immersive but never fails to deliver quite sharply on its relevant subtextual message. Touching on class structure and racial prejudice and coupled with strong female performances and fabulous visuals with a wonderful aesthetic.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is released October 18, 2019.