It is five years since the death of King Stefan. Aurora (Elle Fanning) is Queen of the Moors and Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) is its guardian, though Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson) of the nearby Kingdom of Ulstead considers Maleficent a possible threat. Her raven confidant, Diaval (Sam Riley), overhears Phillip proposing to Aurora. Maleficent thinks the marriage would be a mistake, but Aurora is attracted to the Prince.
Phillip’s parents, King John and Queen Ingrith (Robert Lindsay and Michelle Pfeiffer) host a dinner. Queen Ingrith mentions the former sleep curse that Maleficent put on Aurora, King Stefan’s death, the death of two poachers in the Moors, and disparages Maleficent’s love for Aurora. Maleficent reacts badly and King John suddenly falls into a deep slumber. Everyone, including Aurora, thinks Maleficent is responsible. Phillip urges his mother to awaken the King with a kiss, but the Queen does not feel true love for the King and it does not work. Maleficent storms out of the castle and the Queen’s servant Gerda (Jean Murray) shoots her with an iron bullet.
Wounded, she falls into the ocean and is rescued by a strange creature. She awakens in a cavern in which fairies are hiding. Their leader, Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who saved her, and Borra (Ed Skrein), the dark fairy warrior who had killed the poachers, are there. They are among the last known Dark Phoenix Fey, nearly driven to extinction by Man. Maleficent, it seems, is the last descendant of the Dark Phoenix Fey. Conall and Borra believe that Maleficent is the key to winning their struggle with the humans.
Aurora has become disillusioned with the Kingdom of Ulsted but is pleased to learn that the creatures of the Moors are invited to her wedding with Philip. But she learns that Queen Igrith hates the Faerie Folk because of their prosperity and happiness, and her brother’s death. She is plotting to destroy all Faerie with iron weapons and a crimson powder created by a de-winged pixie named Lickspittle (Warwick Davis). Aurora also learns that Queen Ingrith cursed King John using Maleficent’s old spindle. The Moorfolk are trapped inside the castle chapel. Queen Ingrith has Gerda unleash the deadly crimson powder. The blue fairy Flittle (Lesley Manville) sacrifices herself to save the others while red fairy Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton) and green fairy Thistlewit (Juno Temple) cause Gerda to fall to her death.
The dark fairies assault the kingdom but soldiers begin to massacre them until Maleficent, wielding the Phoenix Power, joins in. She is about to kill Queen Ingrith but Aurora begs her not to, saying that Maleficent is her only mother. But the Queen fires a crossbow. Maleficent shields Aurora but is stricken by the arrow and dissolves into ashes. Horrified, Aurora weeps over her and her tears revive Maleficent, who grows into a dragon. Queen Ingrith throws Aurora off the tower and Maleficent saves her. Trying to escape, Queen Ingrith is seized by the Dark Fey. Prince Phillip declares peace between the fairies and the humans, and the soldiers stand down. Maleficent reverts to her fairy form and gives her blessing to the marriage. Then she destroys the spindle and the curse and King John awakes. And she turns Queen Ingrith into a goat. Maleficent promises to return for the christening of their first child.
The Walt Disney film was directed by Joachim Ronning from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster as a sequel to Maleficent (2014). It was received well at the box-office but did not make a profit until much later, and it received mixed reviews from critics, though Jolie, Fanning, and Pfeiffer were praised. It was nominated for makeup at the Oscars, once again probably because of Jolie’s look. A third film is talked about. The abundant visual effects were provided by the Moving Picture Company and Mill Film, mostly the big battle scenes. Maleficent had three different looks with three different sets of CGI wings. The flying was brilliant, but many critics thought it was not magical enough for them. Jolie’s performance was called enjoyably deranged, deliciously flamboyant and she was said to have upstaged her own film with every scowl.
It was released on the 60th anniversary of the original Sleeping Beauty animated film in 1959. Queen Ingrith’s gowns were based on portraits of Queen Henrietta of France, Eleonor of Toledo, and Anne of Denmark. Michelle Pfeiffer turning into a goat may have been a reference to Stardust (2007), in which she did that to another character. The film on Rotten Tomatoes was 39% yes for critics and 95% yes for audience. Most sequels do not stand up against the first film, but I am back for this one because a movie like this, for me, is a creature feature and it’s fine with me if the creatures are more real than the plot or the dialogue. It’s even more beautiful than the first and Angelina Jolie is just plain magnificent.