Joachim Rønning’s Greatest Movie – Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

On October 17, Joachim Rønning, director of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Beatles, released his latest movie Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This fantasy/action movie is the sequel of Maleficent (2014), and stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Elle Fanning as Aurora, and Michelle Pfeiffer as queen Ingrith. This extraordinary film captures all the enchantment of a fantasy land, and take it further to reflect upon the real world. It is the best movie released yet in 2019, it constantly captures your attention and plays with your emotions and is perfect to watch it with anyone you’d like including kids, your special other, or even alone. 

The whole storyline, from the first and second movies, is based on the original Disney movie of Sleeping Beauty. Maleficent tells the common story of Sleeping Beauty with a twist. It’s most important scenes were intended to not make allusions to the original theme. Prince Phillip wasn’t the one who woke up Princess Aurora from the curse; Maleficent was. The second movie, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, tells what happens after with a story from scratch but they connect everything to the first film and the original story. Princess Aurora is now queen of the Moors and Prince Philip, soon to be king, proposes her marriage after 5 years of being together. Philip’s dad, the king, is thrilled about their union and anxious that his land and the Moors can be united. However, the queen does not feel the same. Her goal is to kill all magical creatures from Aurora’s land, including Maleficent.

The plot and important scenes in this movie were magnificent. They didn’t just connect the points with the first movie, but also with Sleeping Beauty, which made the movie fascinating. They included Aurora’s color-changing dress and the emphasis on the power of love. These scenes will make you sit at the tip of your chair, have nostalgic emotions, and transport to your days as a toddler.  The acting was also flawless. This movie will remind you how electrifying and fierce Angelina Jolie can be. Michelle Pffier’s spiteful attitude is so real you are able to actually hate her. Unlike this movie, not all sequels are successful. The lion king 2 and 3, were hideous. The Little Mermaid’s sequels were horrific. This is because they have basically nothing to do with the original movie. Maleficent 2 achieved this in perfection. They built up a new story but respected the common base. This story didn’t come out of anywhere. It accomplished everyone’s expectations.

Maleficent’s technical, was built upon the first’s movies. Its a balance between revisiting an existing world and giving the audience something new. The costume designer was Ellen Mirojnick. The special effects makeup designer was David White, who designed prosthetics on the first “Maleficent” and was Oscar-nominated for “Guardians of the Galaxy”. He spent months creating costumes for at least 20 characters all influenced by the environment that surrounded them. The costumes were perfection, the gowns, you could see what time of history the story was happening, and they fitted accordingly to the attitude of the characters. For example the gown of Queen Ingrith, it had an armor made from Italian spun silver, Swarovski pearls, and Diamante crystals. This enforced her sophisticated and fearless personality.  

The technical from this movie made you feel inside it. You were captured with awesome images and captivating music and sound effects. Everything was placed in perfect timing. The special effects were impressively even better than the last movie, which they were also stunning. You could barely notice the difference between the animated parts with human parts. 

Most importantly, this movie leaves essential messages for everyone. Ingrith wanted to kill everything from the Moors to dominate. Humans are killing the magic of nature because they just want more power. This movie invites people to reflect if they are acting in this world for their own benefit, which most do, or for the well being of all, which is something to work on. It also conveys is that you must remember who you are and where you come from. Maleficent was evil and angry, but she met more of her own; at last she could be joyful. The first movie’s theme was about women empowerment. 

Disney’s old movies just conveyed the message that we were going to be saved by our prince (a man), but this time it was not like that. Her godmother, Maleficent, loved her more than anything and it was her goodbye kiss that actually broke the curse. The themes this movie conveys are deep.  Nowadays people don’t care about anything, they don’t remember where they belong and they are easily manipulated by ambition. This movie makes us realize this, you are happy where you feel identified in and you are happy when you know your path and know who you really are. After this movie, the audience could feel inspired to make a change not just in reflecting on who they are, but also on how can they make the community better. 

Overall, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, is a movie worth spending money in to watch. It has an excellent plot, magnificent images, and points at our need for unity, acceptance, and taking care of our environment.