Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a Misleading Misfire

My what big horns you have.

While there have a been a few live-action Disney remakes that have been surprisingly good, I can't say the same for sequels of live-action Disney remakes. When was the last time 102 Dalmatians and Alice Through the Looking Glass were talked in a positive light? If you were expecting Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, to break that curse, you are sadly mistaken.

Aurora's family meeting Phillip's family.

2014's Maleficent, is the one Disney remake that I truly despise. From the baffling decision of making Disney's most iconic villain the misunderstood hero, the titular princess and her prince are rendered useless, the sympathetic king is an insane tyrant and the three good fairies are nothing but a joke. I'm all for going in a new direction but did it have to mishandle the characters this way. Imagine, Scar, Hannibal Lecter, or Thanos being the ones in the right and the heroes are wrong and maligned.

This is what passes as a family picture from Disney?

The sequel continues its predecessor's perplexing plot with Angelina Jolie's Maleficent continuing her role as the protector of her magic kingdom and fighting against those who oppress her. So much for "Mistress of Evil," as stated in the subtitle; just like the last film we never see Maleficent do anything "evil," despite having the name that means "to harm" and sprouting her satanic-wardrobe which inspired the original's character design.

Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrtih

Nothing with the returning characters like Aurora (Ellie Fanning) and the three fairies have changed. Now in terms of story, since Frozen's story-structure was used in the first film, the sequel reels in for another Disney plot-line told countless of times with Pocahontas. Two kingdoms preparing to go at war, a princess and her love interest try to find peaceful route, all the blame is placed on a selfish authoritative figure (Michelle Pfeiffer's Queen Ingrith) exploring the beauty of nature with an ancient tribe in hiding, the villains are after a rare element, a legend is explored within the tribe with one respected member killed. With the great visuals and battle scenes, it shares more in common with James Cameron's Avatar,  which in turn was accused of plagiarizing Pocahontas. 

Horned Fairies living in hiding.

I'm not opposed for a movie to explore such themes in their own way but why Maleficent? She is the embodiment of evil! Had these movies perhaps explored this as an origin story à la the fall of Lucifer or Anakin Skywalker, then it would be different but nope! Instead we are given bad fan-fiction like with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Twisting well-known characters who look little to nothing like their counterparts, the few connections to the original is by name of the movie and its characters and several Easter eggs, and filled with much dark and frightening elements that makes that makes Coraline and Monster House family-friendly.

If I had to say something nice is that I like the recasting of this version of Prince Phillip with Harris Dickinson and the arc he goes through. It was nice to have one nice authority figure with the King (Robert Lindsay) and Sam Riley as the unfortunately named Diaval who like Maleficent would have enjoyed better if he had not been connected to his cartoony-crowing counterpart. You are better off watching films like Dances with Wolves, The New World, and John Carter. As for the kids stick with The Chronicles of Narnia movies, Brave, Atlantis the Lost Empire, and The Princess & the Frog.

Final Verdict: D-