Like the popular musical Wicked, the story of Maleficent is a provocatively fun journey into the possibilities of recasting a villain as a sympathetic figure.
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Like the popular musical Wicked, the story of Maleficent is a provocatively fun journey into the possibilities of recasting a villain as a sympathetic figure. The first film in 2014 reimagined Sleeping Beauty, where the supposedly evil Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), who placed a sleeping curse on an unsuspecting girl, turned out to be good after all.
Five years on, Maleficent faces fresh troubles. Goddaughter Queen Aurora (Elle Fanning) and her beau, Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson) decide to get married. All is typically well, with King John (Robert Lindsay), Philip’s father, happy by the potential for two kingdoms to be united, but without revealing spoilers, the impending marriage preparations soon turn rocky as a diabolical character enters. Hint: it’s not Maleficent.
This isn’t complex storytelling. While Maleficent is a refreshing character, with black horns, droll quips and sharp cheekbones, she’s clearly the good guy. Jolie is excellent straddling both the good and supposedly evil sides of Maleficent, putting in a believable performance as she zings off one-liners with supremely slow relish, such as “there will be no wedding!” Fanning, on the other hand, unfortunately, does not do much more beyond being in “damsel in distress” mode. The fun in the film comes when Jolie faces off with the real villain, who drips with equal condescension and slyness. It’s a treat, although both characters do not spend much screen-time together.
While the first half of the two-hour film is lots of fun, the second act devolves into a Marvel Cinematic Universe style action sequence, with lots of fanfare and sound aid. Director Joachim Ronning pitches a war in which Jolie and her arch-rival lock horns on the battlefield in the fantasy world, but it doesn’t quite stick. It’s a middling type of finale that characterises some sequels: the ability to start well doesn’t always mean films end well. However, while it isn’t worth holding one’s breath for a third film, Jolie’s charisma manages to carry this particular sequel into the ultimately satisfying territory.
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