I wanted to watch on last Tuesday but I reached the cinema late. Even after buffering 15 minutes for the advertisements, the queue for the ticket purchase was too long. Fast forward a week later, I sort of feeling disinterested since it is not based on Disney's story anymore and there is a high chance that this original story is going to suck.
Maleficent Mistress of Evil (let's call it Maleficent 2 to make it easier) is a very confused genre and is a proof that Disney elements and believable real story elements just do not work together. Other than the characters, the whole movie feels more like an action fantasy rather than a Disney princess. There is nothing original about the plot as it revolves about a war between 2 races masterminded by a genocidal antagonist. However, when Disney elements are thrown into the mix, the end product is an incoherent mess: it is too realistic and grim as a Disney movie but it is too childish for a fantasy movie.
Disney will definitely not allow any blood or killing on screen, especially since the characters are still related to the Sleeping Beauty franchise. The final battle is a joke. Just imagine a fantasy war movie but instead of arrows, swords, guns, and magic, the weapons are replaced with fireworks made of flower essence (let's call it flowerwork) which dust the faeries, just like how Thanos dusted half of the universe in the Avengers. I personally think this movie is teaching kids bad things since the antagonists do not get the 'punishment' they deserved. The main antagonist (Queen Ingrith) is only turned into a goat while the mass murderer (Greda) is only hinted to die from a fall from a height -realistically she will not die just from falling from level 2 or 3 of the cathedral. It will be better if the goat is slaughtered and eaten and if Greda is really shown dead.
Another obvious problem is regarding how 'stand alone' or how 'connected' Maleficent 2 is intended in relation to the first movie. Maleficent 2 works just as well as a stand alone movie since the only common thing from the first movie is just the characters. The plot is actually ruined when connection to the first movie is attempted. At the end of Maleficent, Aurora is made queen of her kingdom and the Moors but in this movie her kingdom is just conveniently forgotten. In Maleficent, we know nothing about King Stefan's conflict with Maleficent. Now suddenly we have Queen Ingrith who has always been planning to have a war with the Moors. She has been building her war preparation and yet not doing anything if not because of her son falling in love with Aurora who happens to be in the Moors. How convenient! That is a bad writing..
Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer did awesome job. Honestly other than the two of them, the other characters are quite rubbish, useless, and inconsequential. It feels that the story is written based on the two of them and then they put in the others simply as plot points. Other than them, the others are flat in their acting. In fact, overall the movie is lacking in emotion. It is already revealed that Maleficent is descendent of phoenix so her death does not carry any emotional weight since everyone knows phoenix's power is resurrection. The so-called massacre in the chapel or those dusted by the 'flowerwork' is also not sad since it is all CGI creatures that we do not identify with. They just feel like collateral damage. The attempt at comedy is also getting tiring since it is just repeating the same style: Maleficent asking normal chit chat questions but in her scary self that everything sounds like a threat.
After everything I type above, I do not actually hate Maleficent Mistress of Evil and I still sort of enjoyed it. Call it Disney magic :p Everything is quite shitty but if I just lower my expectations since it is a Disney movie, everything becomes acceptable. Hahaha.. I guess this is why those reviews can be completely opposite. Those with expectations of a Disney princess movie will still find the movie a fun ride but those more critical about the plot and characters will find this quite trashy.
Maleficent Mistress of Evil (let's call it Maleficent 2 to make it easier) is a very confused genre and is a proof that Disney elements and believable real story elements just do not work together. Other than the characters, the whole movie feels more like an action fantasy rather than a Disney princess. There is nothing original about the plot as it revolves about a war between 2 races masterminded by a genocidal antagonist. However, when Disney elements are thrown into the mix, the end product is an incoherent mess: it is too realistic and grim as a Disney movie but it is too childish for a fantasy movie.
Disney will definitely not allow any blood or killing on screen, especially since the characters are still related to the Sleeping Beauty franchise. The final battle is a joke. Just imagine a fantasy war movie but instead of arrows, swords, guns, and magic, the weapons are replaced with fireworks made of flower essence (let's call it flowerwork) which dust the faeries, just like how Thanos dusted half of the universe in the Avengers. I personally think this movie is teaching kids bad things since the antagonists do not get the 'punishment' they deserved. The main antagonist (Queen Ingrith) is only turned into a goat while the mass murderer (Greda) is only hinted to die from a fall from a height -realistically she will not die just from falling from level 2 or 3 of the cathedral. It will be better if the goat is slaughtered and eaten and if Greda is really shown dead.
Another obvious problem is regarding how 'stand alone' or how 'connected' Maleficent 2 is intended in relation to the first movie. Maleficent 2 works just as well as a stand alone movie since the only common thing from the first movie is just the characters. The plot is actually ruined when connection to the first movie is attempted. At the end of Maleficent, Aurora is made queen of her kingdom and the Moors but in this movie her kingdom is just conveniently forgotten. In Maleficent, we know nothing about King Stefan's conflict with Maleficent. Now suddenly we have Queen Ingrith who has always been planning to have a war with the Moors. She has been building her war preparation and yet not doing anything if not because of her son falling in love with Aurora who happens to be in the Moors. How convenient! That is a bad writing..
Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer did awesome job. Honestly other than the two of them, the other characters are quite rubbish, useless, and inconsequential. It feels that the story is written based on the two of them and then they put in the others simply as plot points. Other than them, the others are flat in their acting. In fact, overall the movie is lacking in emotion. It is already revealed that Maleficent is descendent of phoenix so her death does not carry any emotional weight since everyone knows phoenix's power is resurrection. The so-called massacre in the chapel or those dusted by the 'flowerwork' is also not sad since it is all CGI creatures that we do not identify with. They just feel like collateral damage. The attempt at comedy is also getting tiring since it is just repeating the same style: Maleficent asking normal chit chat questions but in her scary self that everything sounds like a threat.
After everything I type above, I do not actually hate Maleficent Mistress of Evil and I still sort of enjoyed it. Call it Disney magic :p Everything is quite shitty but if I just lower my expectations since it is a Disney movie, everything becomes acceptable. Hahaha.. I guess this is why those reviews can be completely opposite. Those with expectations of a Disney princess movie will still find the movie a fun ride but those more critical about the plot and characters will find this quite trashy.
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