Ed's Review Dot Com

Roth Films, Walt Disney Pictures,

Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Harris Dickinson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Robert Lindsay, David Gyasi, Jenn Murray, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Judith Shekoni

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel to the 2014 film Maleficent. You can read my review of that film here:. Aurora (Elle Fanning) is now ready to be married to her true love, Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson) and the hope is that with the marriage of the Aurora who was raised by Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and Philip who was raised by his mother, the Queen (Michelle Pfeiffer) that the two kingdoms can be united (The human world and the world of the faeries), and that there can finally be peace. But when the king is struck by another curse, it appears that the split between the worlds cannot be healed and all out war is the only option.

This is a very strong follow up to the original film, and it still follows the same story line of the first film which is somewhat different than the fairy tale we thought we knew. As in the first film, there is no pure good or pure evil and life is a lot more complicated that that. Again this story is Angelina’s film, and though both Michelle and Elle turn in fine performances, again Angelina is truly the star and it’s her movie! She is well prepared to carry the film and in this movie she really shines, even more than in the first. There are really great war scenes in this film, and yet there is a lot of laugh out loud humor and it’s bound to be spell binding for both young and old. This is truly and awesome performance and it is very well done. The imagery is spectacular, and the minor characters are outstanding (and very cute) and some tributes to the original film (both the animated and the first Maleficent film) are really good. The special effects and CGI are outstanding, and this is a film well worth watching on the big screen! I am including the extended trailer for your enjoyment:

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Demarest Films, Lipsync Productions, Number 9 Films,

Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, Daniel Mays, Caleb Landry Jones, Kate Ashfield, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Uri Gavriel, Thure Lindhardt

Two sisters, Elenor (Saoirse Ronan) and Clara (Gemma Arterton) are on the run after committing a gruesome crime and settle on a little seaside hamlet to hide out in. Immediately Clara meets Noel (Daniel Mays) who allows he to stay in his lonely guest house, Byzantium, while Elenor meets Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and makes a friendship with him where she reveals the truth, that she and Clara are 2000 years old and survive on human blood in this Gothic horror tale.

This movie might suit a certain brand of people who are huge Gothic story fans. It is dark and dreary, slow moving, and filled with the stuff that Gothic tales of horror generally provide. But I really got bored right away with this film and even though I stuck with it, it never improved, nor did it catch my interest. I never really got into either story. This is really two films at once, set in the same town with the same characters. Hastings was once a tiny fishing hamlet, and today it’s a seaside resort town. Performances are decent, it’s just that story lagged too much for me to really get into it. Take a look at the preview and see if it might be for you, but for me, it was a big disappointment. It just didn’t work.

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Moving Picture Company (MPC), Roth Films, Walt Disney Pictures,

Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville

We have all been told the story of Aurora and how she slept 100 years waiting for her prince to come and awaken her with loves first kiss. So in this new live action film from Disney, Aurora (Elle Fanning) comes to tell us the true story of what happened in her own words. We find that Maleficent was a good fairy and one of the strongest of the people in the land of fairies and elves, across the river from the land of humans who didn’t get along with the fairies. But Maleficent turned into her evil self by having her heart broken by someone she though she loved. When Aurora was born, Maleficent showed up without an invitation and put a curse on the baby that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and sleep until awakened by loves first kiss.

This is a twisted look at the story in a new way, and was a fantastic fairy tale movie that turns things around. Legend is never absolute truth, and what we know of the story of Sleeping Beauty that is like no other. I think Disney stole some of the ideas from “Once Upon a Time” as there are many similarities between the two stories. I felt Maleficent was much more of a multi faceted personage that has the capability for both good and evil depending on the circumstances she is faced with. Angeline plays a perfect Maleficent, and did an excellent job. Elle Fanning is also very good, and she’s grown so talented and beautiful. I saw the film in IMAX 3-D and it was worth every cent. I really enjoyed the movie from start to finish, and it was very, very well done. The 3-D effects are never in your face, and very subtle, but add a lot, especially on the IMAX screen. The sets and scenery are awesome. I could have enjoyed the soundtrack a bit more if it wasn’t so off the wall, but it still rocked. The two lands are very different, and the fairyland is really beautiful. The three fairies were definitely the comic relief and they were pretty funny.

Essentially, this is Angelina’s movie, but it was so made for her that it’s hard to not appreciate it. She has a range of emotions off the scale, and she pulls it all together. I am certain Disney has a huge box office coming for this film, and it’s good to see another blockbuster coming out of the Mouse House that isn’t a cartoon. It’s PG, so there is a little bit of scary stuff that might scare tiny kids, but it’s really made for children, and yet it has the means to pull out the inner child in each of us. This is a must see.

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