First of all, I have to say that I am a big fan of the first movie (despite all its flaws),and I am sad to see a franchise with such a great potential be ruined so badly. I wish I didn't have to write this review, but seeing all the positivity being spread around made me want to share a bit of objective criticism.

There are three main issues with this movie that poke my nerve really badly.

Firstly, the trailer and the title. Both are very misleading, luring the adult audience into thinking Maleficent will go through a Joker-like phase and actually do some evil. Well, the evilest thing we got is stopping a cat mid-air and threatening to kill it, as far as I'm concerned. She didn't even kill the queen (who actually deserved it) just because Aurora gets in the way. What evil are we even talking about?

The second thing that bothers me is trying to base a children's movie on war and genocide. I don't know who ever thought of that, but those two things just don't work together. Everything is sugar-coated, and absolutely no realism is presented throughout the movie. Literally no one thought that the two kingdoms could come together except for Phillip and Aurora, the idealistic and naive couple with no experience in the real world politics. (The beginning of the movie is actually a joke that writes itself!) Moreover, the elf that has been aggressive throughout the whole movie suddenly stops after a few kind words from an enemy prince? Give me a break. There are just so many plot incoveniences that stem from trying to make adult themes appropriate for children that it turns the movie into a parody rather than a believable story.

Lastly, the writing is just bad... I can't get over the fact that Maleficent has been guarding Aurora her whole life and the girl decides to believe the queen she met five minutes ago. Phillip is utterly useless, he couldn't even tell the court people that Maleficent doesn't stand iron. Also, remember that curse from the first movie that apparently can't be broken? Well, that is not a thing anymore.

There are few words that can describe the disappointment I felt after Maleficent resurrected herself on the top of that tower... Finally, I thought when she died, there is the plot twist we were waiting for! But no, because the protagonist in a children's movie simply can't die. And together with the immortality Maleficent gained, she also lost a large chunk of her character and future potential. Remember Jolie's expression when Maleficent found our her wings were cut off in the first movie? That scene gave me chills. Now when Maleficent is practically untouchable, it is a question whether we will get a great scene like that anymore.

Let's talk about the queen. In my opinion, she is probably the most developed character in the whole movie. Yes, she may be evil; but her motivation is on point, her hatred towards the moor is justified and the strategy to conquer it almost flawless. She is the only character besides Maleficent that understands the complexity of politics and has no problem putting Phillip in his rightful place. Since this is a children's movie, I honestly expected her to die as well as Stefan did in the first movie, but they didn't even do that... they just turned her into a goat. By the way, Pfeiffer's cold face suits the role perfectly and the costumography is absolutely stunning.

If I had to choose one scene that stuck with me the most, it would definitely be the dinner. Little do we know about the queen until then, but the way she makes Maleficent uncomfortable quickly and clearly lets us know what kind of a foe she is. Angelina and Michelle both did an astounding job portraying their respective characters and it was a true pleasure to feel the onscreen tension between them.

To summarize, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a movie that was stripped away from its dignity by writers who clearly do not understand that war is not a theme appropriate for children. As much as I loved the first movie, I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone interested in more than two hours of fun. Hopefully Disney will one day start caring about quality of their movies rather than making money... Such a shame.

I enjoyed the 2014 "Maleficent" movie about as much as I enjoyed this one.

First of all, I must say that the story was actually slightly more interesting and appealing than the first movie. Why? Well, there was a more dark and sinister feel to this 2019 "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil". I mean, even just the title itself has that feel to it.

Being a Disney movie, after all, there is an abundance of sugar-sweet scenes as well. And while the creatures in the movie were mostly of interesting design, some of the scenes were just overflowing with that particular Disney magic. But hey, not really a hindrance to the movie, because it does help to set that magical and mystical realm of the faeries feel that the movie needs.

The characters in the movie were good, and I love the evolution of Maleficent and the insight we are given into the character and her heritage.

Visually, then "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" is just downright spectacular. The special effects are simply amazing and dazzling. I love the attention to detail throughout the course of the movie. And the CGI team really worked their magic to top notch quality.

They had a good selection of actors and actresses for the movie. And needless to say that Angelina Jolie is simply so right for the role of Maleficent. Michelle Pfeiffer was also quite nicely cast for her particular role and she performed rather well. I really liked the role of Diaval - as portrayed by Sam Riley. Just a shame that he didn't have a bigger role and part in the movie.

"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" is definitely well-worth sitting down to watch, and it is suitable for most members in the audience.

My rating of this movie is a seven out of ten stars.

MISTRESS OF EVIL is the sequel to MALEFICENT that didn't need making. It's an ultra-generic movie which might just be the most soulless that Disney has ever put its name to. The characters barely feature and even in dialogue scenes the background is awash with distracting, fake-looking soft CGI artwork. If you thought George Lucas overdid the CGI in his STAR WARS prequels, wait until you get a load of this! Things move onward with typecast villainry, cheesy romance and the stockest of stock battles at the climax, and apart from the incredible, unending overload of CGI, there's nothing here at all. Nada.