Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ** (2019, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickinson, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Robert Lindsay) – Movie Review

Angelina Jolie looks magnificent as Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) but it’s a no-acting-required type of role, with her dialogue spare and sparce. As the movie is a CGI fest, they could just as well have sent in a CGI of Ms Jolie from the last episode, Maleficent from way back in 2914. It would be at least as effective.

[Spoiler alert] In a huge let-down, it turns out that Maleficent isn’t the Mistress of Evil at all, loving humankind and especially her rather dull goddaughter Aurora (played again by a glum and wan Elle Fanning).

And, yes, that means Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) is the Mistress of Evil, giving the actress something of a role she can get her teeth into, though it is more or less just the same stary, scary role that Ms Jolie has, just with a few more, and a few better lines. It was generous of Ms Jolie to allow Ms Pfeiffer to out-vamp her, but two malevolent queens are always a good thing, I suppose.

With three female stars, Disney are appealing strongly to their core audience of teenage girls, and their mums. And there is a handsome prince for eye candy, Prince Philip, handsomely played by Harris Dickinson, who must be surprised at his casting after playing various low-lifes so brilliantly, either American or London. It turns out he can do posh nice too, and he puts what he can into it, with some acting required and a decent number of lines and screen time. Mr Dickinson seems better than his material, which means he’s doing it right.

[Spoiler alert] The film has little time for men and leaves little space for its actors. Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Robert Lindsay all do what they can to jolly up their material, Riley exhibiting a mild sense of humour as the raven Diaval, and Lindsay doing well as Ingrith’s hen-pecked husband King John, at least till he’s put in a coma for most of the rest of the movie.

There is so much CGI Disney might as well have made an animated feature. The CGI spoils the look and scale of the movie. Everything is was too big and way too unreal. When the production gets back to old-time sets is looks both plush and pleasurable, thanks to the craftsmanlike filming at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England. The set designs, costumes and cinematography are magnificent. All these, plus the visuals effects could be worthy of awards.

Aurora is about to get married to Philip, over the dead bodies (metaphorically at least) of the two malevolent mothers. That’s it really.

The screenplay by Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster and Linda Woolverton (based on the story by Linda Woolverton) plays interesting riffs on the old Sleeping Beauty tale, but it is desperately thin and emaciated for a two-hour movie, leading to boredom setting in around half way. More writing, more plot, more imagination, more dialogue are all required. Disney send in jolly creatures to appeal to the young kids’ audience, though these damage the film’s charm. But otherwise, it keeps up quite a robust tone, which is in its favour, with intense sequences of fantasy action and violence, and brief scary images.

It cost a shocking $185,000,000, and its US gross is a disappointing $45,046,347.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Movie Review

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