Maleficent returns to our screens after five years since her debut in 2014 where she developed a love for a human child. The original Maleficent movie was based on the Disney classic Sleeping Beauty but with a twist. This sequel is completely original addressing what happens after the ‘happily ever after’ ending the original.
Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) is a reformed fae but is still feared by the human Kingdom who only remember that she cursed the princess. Aurora (Ellie Fanning) has become Queen of the Moors but now plans to join her Kingdom with Prince Phillip (Harris Dickenson) through marriage. Queen Ingrith (Michelle Phifer) is supportive of the marriage but doubts whether Maleficent is truly reformed from the villain fairy that cursed a baby. Tensions rise and Aurora faces a decision of leaving the Moors to become a part of the human kingdom and accept the changes of courtly life.
Overall the film was very good but there were too many subplots within the same film to fully explore any of them. Furthermore, for a film named Maleficent, her character was not featured heavily. I loved all of the subplots and I thought they were written very well, there just wasn’t enough time in the film for any of them to grow properly.
Though Maleficent was established as a child and young person’s film, Maleficent 2 had more adult themes including fantasy threat and violence. It was a good film for a family with older children to enjoy but some elements were confusing and too dark for a younger audience. Personally, I enjoyed it very much and have watched it repeatedly over the last month with justifiable twists and turns and action. Compared to Maleficent (2014) which was mainly a remake of Sleeping Beauty Maleficent 2 was more ambitious and original with stronger character arcs and plots and great action.
I would still highly recommend this film and would consider it to be one of the top 10 films released this year.
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