Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

The writing is not good enough. The visual is amazing and so is the acting, but the script is really bad.

This film served as great entertainment with its colorful fantasy scene and numerous gorgeous fairy tale characters. The magnificent fantasy scene and impressive dialogue really held the audience's attention and also a bit comedy between the scene kept them on the edge of their seats. However, For a number of scenes, it needed hard to tell the flashback or more background that had passed since the last time a given character had been on screen e.g. Queen Ingrith abruptly appeared a barbaric villain as its needs to draw their setting much more in order to keep the audiences get into her reason for starting a war.

Despite the film's minor shortcomings, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is exciting, creative, and fancy - and well worth an hour of your time to watch.

Sirichai Saengjan Mahasarakham University, Thailand

I honestly don't think the people leaving reviews watched the same movie. First and foremost, it's a kids movie. As far as kids movies go, it's pretty intense. There are some interesting themes that can be difficult to explain or aren't usually explained to children (ie life is not black and white, it's grey), which I was happy to see my daughter's (age 9) reaction to at the appropriate times. This was my favorite AJ movie I've ever seen. I don't remember her having many lines, but you feel her emotions throughout (especially maternal ones). There are definitely some weird story holes...and the ending was a little too "and everyone lived happily ever after". But...it's a kid's movie and that's ok.

In 2014, audiences learnt the back-story behind Maleficent, the villainess of Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty. Rather than being just a cackling sorceress, Maleficent painted its title character as someone who rose from tragedy and betrayal to form a complex bond with the young Princess Aurora. Directed by Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge), this sequel continues that story, pitting Maleficent against a conniving, ruthless new foe.

Angelina Jolie continues to be all sharp-cheekboned perfection as Maleficent. We were afraid that she might phone in it given that this is a sequel, but she still appears to relish the role. Not only does she gets numerous fabulous costume changes, Maleficent goes on a journey of discovering, getting acquainted with her people and learning about their customs and beliefs. There is a conflict between her allegiance to her fae kin and to Aurora, which gives the powerful character something to struggle with.

Much of the film works because of Michelle Pfeiffer. Casting her opposite Jolie was an inspired move. The early promotional materials tried to hide it, but there's no point beating about the bush now - Queen Ingrith is the "Mistress of Evil" of the title. Pfeiffer plays the villain with sneer and swagger hidden beneath a regal façade, with shades of her witch character from Stardust sometimes visible. Coming off like a PG-rated Cersei Lannister, it's an absolute hoot.

There's a lot going on in the plot of the movie, so it is to writers Linda Woolverton, Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue's credit that the movie never loses sight of its emotional core: the relationship between Maleficent and Aurora. They might not be on the same page for much of the film, but it cannot be questioned that Maleficent deeply loves and cares for Aurora, something Ingrith winds up exploiting.

Just as in the first film, the show is stolen by Sam Riley as Diaval, Maleficent's shape-shifting sidekick. Riley manages to be both cool and

While the visuals are often mesmerising and transporting, the film does lean very heavily on computer-generated imagery. This is expected of a fantasy adventure film, but some of the characters do seem unnatural. The Fairy Godmothers Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), Thistlewit (Juno Temple) and Flittle (Lesley Manville) return from the first film, and their almost-human facial features sometimes cross over into the dreaded uncanny valley.

Prince Philip is boring, but then again, this is something inherent in the source material. Brenton Thwaites, who was busy filming Season 2 of Titans, is replaced by Harris Dickinson, who constantly seems a little bit confused and flat. However, this is also a sign that the film understands that Philip is not the main character, and that he does not have to be the hero to save the day. Chiwetel Ejiofor is almost completely wasted in a relatively small supporting role.

The action sequences in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil are grand and expansive. Like most big-budget high fantasy projects these days, it seems more than a little derivative of Game of Thrones, but the big battle scenes are dynamic and lively. The movie gets surprisingly dark, with the villain's plot involving genocide by way of biological warfare. However, the movie still has a bounce and a sense of humour to it and is never too self-serious the way something like Snow White and the Huntsman and its sequel The Huntsman: Winter's War sometimes were. The big climactic battle takes place in broad daylight, which is a relative rarity in films of this type.

This film has a completely different design team than the first but maintains a sense of visual continuity while also giving us something new. The costumes by Ellen Mirojnick are stunning, especially Maleficent's battle outfit which is a sexy, elegant body paint-style number. Production designer Patrick Tatopolous creates some gorgeous fantasy environments, chief of which is the hidden fae sanctuary comprising mini-environments which have different climates.

Some of it may be overly familiar, but there's still more creativity to this than to Disney's live-action remakes which are obligated to retrace the steps of their animated forebears. Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer pitted against each other is worth the price of admission.

The first Maleficent was interesting because it provided a new spin to the tale of Sleeping Beauty by making Maleficent the protagonist. In the sequel, the mother-daughter relationship between Angelina Jolie's Maleficent and Elle Fanning's Aurora is tested as they end up in opposing sides of the war between faer folk and humans. This CGI-filled spectacle does not sound very interesting but the movie is saved by earnest performances of the cast. Jolie is majestic and menacing as Maleficent. Her nemesis, played my Michelle Pfeiffer is no less regal. They elevate the material, and their face off is almost like a scene from Game of Thrones. In fact, there are many parallels to Game of Thrones. Fanning's Aurora and The Prince are as clueless and idealistic as Jon Snow. Maleficent is almost like a horned Danaerys. Another parallel is to Avatar. The faery world is almost like the planet in Avatar. Similarly, their resources are exploited by humans. It helps that Ed Skrein is in the movie, and he chews every scene he is in. All in all, there is no complaint on the acting department. However, the pacing is uneven, and some scenes drag too long. The emotional scenes are their but lack impact. But the climactic battle is worth the wait. There are even some deaths. In other words, Maleficent is a fun cross between Game of Thrones and Avatar. Definitely worth your time