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In the present year, in which there have been three Disney live action remakes released, the less saturated market of 2014 seems practically nostalgic. The original Maleficent predated the deluge of faithful remakes of Disney’s fairy tail cannon that began with 2015’s Cinderella. As such, it feels far more of the ilk of Tim Burton’s fantasy epic reimagining of Alice in Wonderland (2010) than the safe calculated recreation of Beauty and the Beast (Bill Condon, 2017). A fact which, in my mind, makes the rather flawed first film stand out among the Disney live action ouvre. This is a tone that the sequel largely maintains, making it simultaneously somewhat of an anachronism, but also far more interesting than Disney’s current slate of fairytale films.
This is because the film is not a fairy tale, but a fantasy epic much like the aforementioned Alice in Wonderland. At first it seems that the film will focus on a love plot between Aurora (Elle Fanning as Sleeping Beauty) and the Prince of a nearby kingdom. This plot is quickly relegated to the sidelines, however, as the film seems more interested in the political conflict between the prince’s kingdom and the exiled Dark Fae, the eponymous Maleficent’s race. The production design and CGI which brings the Fae’s island is breathtaking and, in one particular scene, is quite reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009). The visual language displaying their asymmetrical physique in contrast to the finely pruned hedges of the human kingdom is quite effective. This, however, does little to mend the ills of the story proper.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil instead seems interested in the idea of narratives and how they can drive political conflict with the humans displaying many marks of colonisers, though the film fails to bring this idea to any satisfying conclusion beyond, saying that colonialism and perversion of the truth is bad.The final act of the film also ends with a twist that, although briefly telegraphed, still feels rather left-field and unearned. I also cannot help feeling that the film’s villain is revealed far too early on telegraphing almost exactly how the film will play out.
In spite of all this, though some films deal with similar themes batter such as Black Panther (Ryan Kugler 2018), the thematic elements are some of the most interesting that I have seen from the live-action fairy tales since the original Maleficent. This, combined with the fabulously visually-realised fantasy world, meant that I was thoroughly intrigued by the film until the final act, and was largely willing to dismiss the incongruencies. For that reason, I cannot say that there was no value in watching the film. It is therefore unfortunate that it could not stick the landing.
