MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL (O-RVZ MOVIE REVIEW)

Does a sequel really needed for the 2014's Maleficent? I suppose so since Disney just dropped a new sequel to it titled "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil". It's directed by Joachim Rønning (who co-directed the latest Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Angelina Jolie returning as the powerful witch Maleficent. The plot follows right after the event of the first movie "duh" in which Maleficent must protect the kingdom of Moors from a mysterious threat.

The movie is truly beautiful in terms of its world and the use of CGI effects, creature designs and its production set. It's not something groundbreaking but they really invested heavily on that aspect and fully utilize it in the movie. One aspect of the movie that really worked for me was the introduction of the Dark Fey people. I was genuinely intrigued about their lore and to know what these creatures are but the movie didn't really quite dig deep into that which is a sad thing for me. I kinda wished that the movie focused more about the Dark Feys cause it kinda provides another layer to Maleficent's character especially her knowing that there are other creatures out there just like her. The plot of the movie is also generic and its retreading the same format that they have done from the first movie. They didn't really made any changes to the story apart from introducing new characters to it and it's a shame because this movie really hold some potential to it. In terms of the performances, Angelina Jolie still nailed playing the character. It's as if that the character is truly tailored to be played by her and she has that unique feature of her face that really suits the character so well. The other actors such as Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sam Riley really did some good performances on the film and especially Sam Riley playing again as Diaval, the shapeshifting crow, who stole the movie for me. Some parts of the movie was funny because of him and there are some parts as well that may feel quite dull and boring.

I really think that the movie has that great potential to be not just your average popcorn film flick. There's so much lore that they could have explore or even just create and with that they could have gotten much more interesting story or plot. The visuals were certainly stunning to look at and the production set/design was really made well. The Dark Fey creatures were really cool and were such a bad-ass. Ever since their introduction from the movie, I really didn't want the scenes to be shifted back again to the humans as I want the film only to be focused on the Dark Feys. We've had so much story about the humans and for a breathe of fresh air I wanted it to have a different twist to it. I was also starting to like the direction of the movie that its getting into only to be disappointed at the end.

OVERALL

I still enjoyed the movie. There are some beautiful designs, impressive CGIs and cool looking creatures such as the Dark Feys. I didn't like the story of it as it feels like the same story from the first movie and it's basically watching the same movie all over again (except with the Dark Feys introduction). However, there were some impressive battle scenes and as I said cool-looking visual effects that could distract you out of the bad storytelling. I really love the Dark Feys introduction and it could have made the movie different yet better if they had focused more and provide more details to them. Performances were also great and the tone of the movie is your typical Disney-Fairy Tale that is mixed with a little bit of darkness to it. Would I suggest this to be watched on the cinemas? I wouldn't just because it's just really a generic movie for me at least. But it is a good movie to be watched together with your family (especially with little kids) since it has that Disney spectacle that we all know of and love.