THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 94 OCTOBER 16, 2019
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ERDALE:^ ROBERT^ FALCONER/THE^ CW.^Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil
Angelina Jolie and
Elle Fanning are joined
by Michelle Pfeiffer
for a sequel that feels
programmed to within
an inch of its life
By Todd McCarthy
newcomer’s antipathy for the queen. And so,
just days before the wedding, the assault is on.
This turn of events brings the long-dormant
Maleficent back to life; she’s a warrior at heart.
As the tribal forces head for a showdown with
their oppressors, the young lovebirds yearn
and coo while Ingrith madly prepares for her
long-awaited opportunity to eradicate the
rebels. But little did she count on having to
contend with the resurrected dragon woman
with those unwanted but useful big wings.
Nothing in the final act — from the
betrothed’s cavorting to the queen’s schem-
ing and the rebels’ assault — could feel more
formulaic; every button is pushed to achieve
rote satisfaction in young viewers, while any
notion of creating tension and suspense is
ignored. The action feels overwhelmingly
computer-generated, the camera movements
connected as if by a gyroscope that circles
around to provide a full-spectrum view.
Jolie spends most of the first hour pout-
ing, making it easy for Pfeiffer to dominate.
Ultimately, though, the star has her moments
as a character who is intriguing in her
ambiguity: Is she a heroine, a quasi-villain or
simply a deeply wounded individual?
Director Joachim Ronning, now split from
creative partner Espen Sandberg — with
whom he made Kon-Tiki and Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales — gets the
job done without great distinction.
The new film is 21 minutes longer than the
original, and there was no evident need — cre-
ative or commercial — for that.the Beast and The Lion King as well as others
— to ensure all the ingredients are stirred
together in proper balance; she and cohorts
Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue
(who wrote the upcoming A Beautiful Day in
the Neighborhood) have, however predictably,
connected all the dots.
What the Disney alchemists have brewed
here is a time-tested tale of young love
interfered with by old folks with nefari-
ous schemes. At its center is
Maleficent’s goddaughter Aurora
(a charming Elle Fanning), who
was 14 when she originated the
role and is now 20. Replacing
Brenton Thwaites as her fiancé
Prince Phillip is handsome
Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats).
Maleficent has been laying
low, looking after Aurora while
suffering through a funk for lack
of a worthy adversary. That will
change soon enough. When the
two arrive at Queen Ingrith’s
(Michelle Pfeiffer) castle for
a dinner to mark the imminent wedding
between Aurora and Phillip (the queen’s son),
Maleficent seems ill-at-ease — and displeased
by the queen’s announcement that, hence-
forth, “I consider Aurora my own.”
This lights a fire in Maleficent. Unfurling
her wings at last, she flies off, only to be
shot down in a jungle-like land that bears no
resemblance to the British Isles that otherwise
seem to be the yarn’s backdrop. This realm is
populated by outcasts led by a warrior, Conall
(Chiwetel Ejiofor), who’s sympathetic to theThe clearest difference between Maleficent:
Mistress of Evil and its progenitor is that
Angelina Jolie’s cheekbones now appear even
more razor-sharp than they did five years ago.
In most respects, though, this follow-up to the
eighth-biggest box office attraction of 2014
feels just as predictably programmed, with
a new evil queen to make the title character
seem benevolent by comparison, a textbook
romance and enough computer-generated
“camera” moves to make this
come close to qualifying as an
animated film.
It would be difficult to find
a contemporary film more
overstocked with time-tested
commercial “elements”: a prin-
cess, her dashing beau, the silly
elves who flit about and look after
them, the aforementioned calcu-
lating queen and peons ready at
the snap of a finger to cater to the
betters or carouse in celebration.
The one thing giving this a mea-
sure of distinction is Jolie’s title
character, whose parentage owes as much to
Broadway’s Wicked as to Disney’s (and Charles
Perrault’s) Sleeping Beauty.
The studio has brought back its in-house
writer with the golden box office touch,
Linda Woolverton — who penned the first
Maleficent, the original animated Beauty and
OPENS Friday, Oct. 18 (Disney)
CAST Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor,
Sam Riley, Harris Dickinson, Ed Skrein, Michelle Pfeiffer
DIRECTOR Joachim Ronning
Rated PG, 118 minutes
Angelina Jolie reprises her role based on the winged, horned
sorceress-antagonist from Sleeping Beauty.Michelle Pfeiffer plays
Maleficent’s royal enemy.