Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


​

Movie
Disney seems obsessed lately with re imagining their old classic fairy tales that made them popular, and turning them into live action adaptations. Most of them stick a bit TOO close to the original animated movies, except with the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Disney decided to go for an alternate angle with 2014’s Maleficent, changing the titular villain from a person of pure evil, and instead molding her into a tragic anti-hero, or at least a sympathetic villain with heart. They always say that the winners write the history books, and in the case of Sleeping Beauty the humans were the winners, thus the story we had known all these years was slightly different. But what had happened if King Stefan and Prince Phillip had NOT killed the evil Maleficent? How would her story and history have played out differently? 2014’s Maleficent tackled that issue as they tried to turn a classic Disney villain into a sympathetic character with decent (if not flawed) results. I like the original film, but it was a bit of a strain to see one of the most iconic Disney villains be a “misrepresented heroine” in disguise. Still, it was well acted, and had some serious fun with the alterations to the original lore.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil does something that I honestly didn’t think would happen when I saw that they had announced a sequel to the 2014 film. It actually made a BETTER movie. Usually when sequels come out (especially Disney sequels) they have a terrible tendency of losing what made them fun and enjoyable, and become rote and overly turgid retreads. However, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil actually expands upon the universe and pulls some interestingly dark twists for a PG rated film for children.

It’s been a few years since King Stefan was destroyed and the moors have finally been returned to the fairy folk and their kin with Aurora (Elle Fanning) as their defacto queen, and the redeemed Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) raising her as her mother. Phillip (now played by Harris Dickinson) has finally proposed to Aurora and she’s said yes. Now it’s time to meet the family, and boy is this going to be a doozy of a family dinner. Phillip’s peace loving father, King John (Robert Lindsay), and queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) are a bit nervous to meet the mistress of evil herself, and Maleficent is none too keen about the meeting either. However both sides try and bite their tongues in order to please their children’s wishes, only for things to go HORRIBLY awry. Ingrith goads Maleficent into a fit of raging, ending up with King John fallen on the floor with a curse remarkably similar to the one that turned Aurora into sleeping beauty, and leaving Maleficent with all the blame.

Naturally it was nothing but a ruse by the humans, but in a twist of fate we find out that King John’s “curse” was nothing more than a ruse by Queen Ingrith, who is hungry for war with the fay folks so that she can wipe out the moors from the magical folk. She’s even gone so far as to commission a gigantic army unbeknownst to her husband and created some rather powerful magical infused weapons that have the power to kill the fay. Wounding Maleficent in the escape from the human castle, she’s left for dead, only to be picked up by an unlikely ally that finally proves that Maleficent is not the last of her kind after all.

The rest of the story plays out about how you would expect in an effects ridden kids film. Maleficent is once again put back into the role of tragically misunderstood villain and she has to once again beat the true villain of the story, a human who is scared of what they don’t understand. Not exactly ground breaking, but there is some neat twists to the story. The main one being Maleficent’s discovery that she is not the last of the Dark Fey like she thought she was. Instead of being terrified of love due to heartbreak like in the first film, this is a journey of self discovery for her adult self. Reconciling that she is more than just a single powerful fairy folk, and capable of SO MUCH more. The second aspect was the growth between her and Aurora in terms of their relationship. The film relied HEAVILY on the fact that Maleficent was no longer just a lone wolf. She was a mother, and this binding agent is the key focal point to her temperance and wisdom later on in the film. In fact, some of the more emotionally poignant moments are between her and Aurora near as the two form an extremely strong familial bond that acts as the anchor point for the conclusion.




Rating:

Rated PG for intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and brief scary images




Video:

Disney’s 1080p Blu-ray encode for the film is absolutely stunning, and near perfect. We’re blasted with an array of bright colors and deeply saturated blacks that make this film a visual treat to behold. Colors are EVERYWHERE, from the bright and shimmering moors, to the neutral graded human worlds full of greens, golds and hues of stone and earth, and even the ash gray look of the Fay home island. Shadows are inky and black to the core, show no signs of crush and showcases magnificent shadow detail. I was duly impressed by the sheer amount of detail in the effects heavy film. I was expecting a little bit of CGI overkill, but the even with the heavy use of digital creation, there is an insane amount of raw detail to the eyes. Watch the fay flowers that the humans harvest. Even though it’s a completely digital creation you can see individual fibers on the strands, as well as movement that is startlingly accurate. Usually CGI movement has this thing of looking fake, but I was duly impressed with how seamlessly CGI and live action blended together for Mistress of Evil.








Audio:

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA track that the Blu-ray gets is capable but sadly a bit dull and flat comparatively. The track requires the obligatory volume boost that we’re used to with Disney films to get a fuller and more rich sound experience, but it’s still a rather flat mix. Dynamics are OOOK, but decidedly soft and the low end doesn’t get nearly the punch and weight that it deserves. In chapter 6 Maleficent gets a flurry of activity at the table that livens thing up a bit, but I was actually surprised at how light he LFE and surrounds were for that moment. There’s just not a whole lot of depth to the sounds, as they all sound to be around the same volume level, leaving the range a bit constrained. it’s not a bad track, as the end battle is quite lively, but lacking the punch of the LFE and the wide range of good dynamics, the track just is merely “good”.







Extras:

• Origins of the Fey
• Aurora's Wedding
• If You Had Wings
• Maleficent: Mistress of Evil VFX Reel (
• Extended Scenes
• Outtakes
• Music Video "You Can't Stop the Girl" performed by Bebe Rexha.

Final Score: ​

All in all, I actually liked Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, even more so than the decent first film. I actually liked Maleficent when it came out, but understood that it was still a heavily flawed film and wasn’t wildly comfortable with them remaking Maleficent into a semi heroine. However, I’ve sort of accepted the “elseworlds” tale of sleeping beauty, and the sequel expanded upon the first one quite nicely. It’s still not a perfect movie by any means, but it’s a goodly amount of fun with the concept, and Angelina Jolie hams it up as the queen of “evil” herself with gusto. Disney once again knocks it out of the park with the video, and like usual, under performs on the audio. Worth it as a fun watch if you enjoy light and airy fantasy.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfieffer, Harris Dickinson, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein
Directed by: Joachim Ronning
Written by: Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: PG
Runtime: 119 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 14th, 2020

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I saw the first Maleficient in the theaters and we all enjoyed it. I asked the family if they wanted to see this one but they were not interested for some reason. I did want to see it but didn't want to see it alone in the theater so decided to skip it. After reading the review, I am curious again so will check it out once available on amazon prime/netflix.

 

[Asere]

I own the first one and my daughter and I really liked it. I will rent it and watch it with her.
Thanks for the review.

 

[Jack]

I knew I would not like it upon its release as it looked hokey and blah.
That is until I actually saw the film at the...um...insistence of my wife. I loved this movie and you're right Michael, the audio is otay but the visuals are stunning.
By the end of the film I had to apologize to the Mrs. and acknowledge she was right, oh the horror of this.

 

[tripplej]

lol. She will hold that over you, you know that!

I am right and you are wrong.. lol.

Glad you liked the film.

 

[Michael Scott]

tripplej is right... you've been marked now