The story of Sleeping Beauty and the witch Maleficent is not new by any means, but new movie adaptations are continuing to be released, like Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This film, starring Angelina Jolie, is the sequel to the movie Maleficent that was released in 2014. The movie follows the story of Maleficent and her “daughter” Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and their lives after everything that occurred in Maleficent.

The movie begins with Queen Aurora of the Moors addressing her subjects, and it is revealed the Prince Phillip of Ulstead and Aurora will marry. Maleficent is immediately against the marriage, but through her love for Aurora, she obliges and allows the wedding. Aurora and Maleficent are then invited to a dinner at the King and Queen of Ulstead’s castle, and madness ensues as one would guess. The queen persisted to harbor ill feelings towards Maleficent and the Moors, and she had a diabolical plan to exterminate them. Without spoiling the entire movie, to summarize what happened, the queen embarks on her journey of world domination, but Maleficent finds a team of her own and with their help, faces the queen’s army.

In terms of the cast, Angelina Jolie could not have been more perfect for the role of Maleficent. Her bone structure even compliments her role in the best way possible. She is able to embody the threatening aura that Maleficent is supposed to possess, and she creates a menacing yet soft character on the big screen, which is precisely the character Maleficent is supposed to be. Elle Fanning plays Queen Aurora, and she does a phenomenal job. Fanning portrays the innocence and purity of Aurora to the point where she seems like she’s floating. Throughout the movie, I felt that Fanning was able to create an aura of good vibes around Aurora, and this fits the movie perfectly. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the Queen of Ulstead and Prince Phillip’s mother, the antagonist of the film. Pfeiffer allows for the audience to fully grasp how evil and conniving the queen really is. She depicts the queen for what she really is, a manipulative old woman, and allows for the entire audience to build their hatred for her. These three women carried the film to what I felt was better than the first.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was a movie that, if I’m honest, surprised me. I had low expectations going into the movie, as I was not a huge fan of the first film, but I was thoroughly impressed with what I watched. From the cast’s performance to the overall storyline, my eyes were glued to the screen the entire movie. I’d rate this movie a 9/10, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone.