Maleficent. Mistress of Evil. Film + 3D Review

The first Angelina Jolie Maleficent film was a strange experience for me as a viewer. I saw it when it came out (in 3D) and hated it but beyond Jolie’s overacting 5 years later I can tell you almost nothing about it. With the negative reviews for Mistress of Evil expecting something similar. Nevertheless I took in a 3D screening with a relatively open mind. How was it?
This was definitely not what I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong Mistress of Evil is a bad film. That said it also feels like the first Disney live action within the last two years that does not feel entirely made by committee (much as I think Aladdin 2019 is a marginally better film.) The first act is Meet The Parents Sleeping Beauty edition ( seriously) the second is Disney’s attempt to cloning the How to Train Your Dragon sequels and the third is Disney does Game of Thrones style high fantasy. Much as a lot of this doesn’t typically work (the high fantasy is especially derivative) I respect this film for trying the sort of swing for the fences you don’t get from Disney in 2019. It’s weirdest moments are leaps and bounds above the first film but there’s not enough of them to make the sequel recommendable to anyone that didn’t enjoy the first film or completes like me who see everything (especially when released in 3D.)
5/10