‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ is a mixed bag of high fantasy adventure

Admittedly, I had very little interest in this movie after seeing the first film and finding it hard to remember. That may also be because we watched it on a bus in Florida while the driver got lost on the way back to our hotel, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Maleficent” told the story of Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s point of view, and while it was inventive in many ways (this is actually a story writing exercise that Neil Gaiman teaches: take a familiar story and find a different way to tell it), I don’t honestly remember much of it. Other than the fact that Angelina Jolie is incredible in almost everything she does. So, going into the sequel, my expectations were low. Low, low, low.

Surprisingly, this film was quite fun in some parts and really kept my attention. Its biggest shortcoming is the over use of CGI. Characters and entire sequences are CGI, and they look like a bad video game — and sadly, the movie starts like this. Not the best way to get things moving.

Aurora (Elle Fanning) is Queen of the Moors and takes her position very seriously, doing what she can to help the denizens of the moors. Maleficent (Jolie) is her protector and guardian following the death of King Stefan in the first film. Prince Philip of neighboring Ulstead wants to marry Aurora, but Maleficent is not having it. Philip’s parents, King John and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), invite the newly engaged pair and Maleficent to dinner at the castle. Things don’t go well as Maleficent believes the marriage to be a mistake and the humans to be untrustworthy. Ingrith baits her throughout the meal by recounting the inaccurate story of what happened to Aurora (the story we all know from Sleeping Beauty) as well as claiming that Aurora will be her daughter once they are wed and Maleficent will no longer have a maternal bond to her.

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