Maleficent: Mistress of Evil starts where the 2014 live action movie left off. Though this was a strong movie, it failed to live up to the expectations of its prequel. 

Maleficent (2014) was a strong rendition of the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty but told from the villain’s point of view.  Maleficent is a very special movie because of the fact that it’s one of Disney’s few live-action films, if not the only one, where the story is told by the villain. 

Maleficent was introduced in the 1959 Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty. She was the fairy godmother to Aurora, although being a malevolent fairy, she was assigned to Aurora. Maleficent placed a curse on the child, that she would fall into a deep sleep on her 16th birthday, and only be awakened by true love’s kiss, which the fairy knew didn’t exist. Years later, this story would lead to the basis of the plot of Maleficent, the live-action film version. 

In the recent, live-action movies, Maleficent was portrayed as an evil fairy out for vengeance against King Stefan, the man she once loved. In the films, Maleficent is the fairy godmother of Aurora, the child of King Stefan, her past love, and his wife. Maleficent wasn’t invited to the princess’ christening, therefore, she takes out her anger on the child, placing the spell just like in the animated version of the film. 

Maleficent is played by Angelina Jolie, who truly embraces the essence of the role of Maleficent. Her acting was spot-on, setting the standards high for anybody who plays the role of a villain. Jolie fully captured the persona of Maleficent, acting as a confident, strong, and wicked version of this role. The costumes added the final touch needed to impress the viewers of the film, from the huge, dark wings to the sharp, crowning horns, Maleficent doesn’t fail to impress the audience with her divine costume. 

In the second film of this series, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, the story picks up where it left off. Maleficent travels to a castle where the wedding of Aurora and Prince Phillip will take place. There, she meets, the future mother-in-law, Queen Ingrith, of Aurora who has a hatred for fairies. She devises a plan to destroy the fairies of the lands, but Maleficent joins forces with a warrior and other beings from her realm, the Moors, in order to defeat the Queen and her army, and save the fairies from the wrath of Queen Ingrith. 

Queen Ingrith is portrayed by Michelle Pfieffer. The role of Queen Ingrith is hard to portray; you must have self-confidence, sass, and the attitude of a conniving queen, which Pfieffer amazingly captures. Queen Ingrith is a sadistic and vile person, with hopes of destroying the land fairies. Throughout the movie, Queen Ingrith develops into a powerful enemy of Maleficent, and Pfieffer for sure puts up a competition on which villain is best. 

The 2019 film doesn’t have any connection to the original tale of Sleeping Beauty and doesn’t impress me compared to the 2014 film. In my opinion, the 2014 film, Maleficent, beats the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty and its animated film, but it for sure is better, more complex, and more entertaining than the second film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and like most movie series, the sequel will never live up to the expectations set by the prequel. 

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a perfect movie for family night, with an added twist of surprising events that keep you on the edge of your seat. All things considered, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil wasn’t the amazing movie I was expecting, but because of it being rated as a children/family movie, it is not a bad movie at all, especially with the amazing actresses playing the opposing forces, and the fact that the plot was beautifully written, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil isn’t so evil after all.