Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Makes A Meh Movie
I’ll start this review simply: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was completely fine. It was adequate, somewhat boring and exquisitely designed. The plot of the film felt equal parts padded and overly complex. The dialogue of this film is reprehensible. It over-explains every possible aspect of the world and the character motivation, allowing for no moments of “show don’t tell.” Even the moments that do show have people explaining over it. This was especially insidious in the third act when Michelle Pfeiffer’s character Queen Ingrith explains the plot of the film we’ve been watching back to the audience. It not only brought the movie to a screeching halt but it almost felt like an episode of Blue’s Clues or Scooby Doo. It was one of several moments in this film that simply lasted too long. There were many sequences in this film that just kept going or cut back to the same or similar shots too many times and it really started to wear me down. The film is about 20 minutes too long and most of that is made of repetitive shots.
To get to the characters themselves there honestly isn’t much to say. Like her animated counterpart, Aurora is very pretty and very blonde and very boring. Elle Fanning does an admirable job with the material given but its not much. Phillip is much the same but less blonde. The Flora, Fauna and Merriwether analogues are still painfully unfunny and have an emotional moment in the third act that doesn’t feel earned. Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) does plenty to support the film but her subplot with Chiwetel Ejiofor feels rushed and forced and ends in another emotional payoff that isn’t earned. Maleficent’s anthropomorphized raven has some genuinely funny moments in the first half. The rules of the world are confusing and seem to be constantly changing. Warwick Davis is absolutely wasted.
The film was visually stunning. The effects were seamless and the creatures well designed. I especially loved how the dark fae’s wings and modes of dress were different based on the weather of the region they were originally from. The fae from the Voors were delightful and created a vibrant forest world that added many flashes of desperately needed color. The costumes of Maleficent, Diaval and Aurora were all vibrant and infused with the personality of the characters themselves. Maleficent continues to be a goth dreamscape, wrapped in lace, leather and increasingly complicated patterns of skulls and pleats. The costumes of Phillip and his family were beautiful fairy tale royal family fantasies.
Did I enjoy this film? It was certainly a treat. Visually? It was a treat. Emotionally? It was wonderful, the first time. I’m not sure it will stand up to multiple views but it doesn’t have to. It’s a candy colored cotton candy daydream with a goth bend. I feel like it was just a few steps away from trying to make a commentary about racism, but it bagged out before it might step on any toes. Honestly? Fun, but upon further examination it falls apart.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Walt Disney Pictures, PG, 1 hr 58 mins) gets a 2 out of 5.
