Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (2019)

Although I really wasn't a fan of the revisionism of Maleficent, the strengths in that movie were still strong enough to ensure that I would watch a sequel (well . . . the strengths in the movie and the fact that I have to try and watch every film ever in a never-ending quest for completionism). From the very start of the film, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil sets itself out as superior to the film it follows. The groundwork has been laid, the characters put in place, and this quickly turns into an entertaining mix of dark comedy and fairytale characters at war.

Angelina Jolie is, once again, the main character, and once again she's a villain allowed to prove that she doesn't have to remain in that box. Elle Fanning returns as Aurora, the young woman who happens to now have Maleficent as her guardian/godmother, and everything starts to move along at a rapid pace when Aurora accepts a proposal from Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson). What could lead to peace between humans and non-humans instead leads to a confrontation, and it's one that was planned by Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer).

The main returning name behind the camera here is writer Linda Woolverton, now working with Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and she seems to enjoy being freed from the obvious constraints of the twisted familiarity required for the first film. The character of Maleficent gets to enjoy her powers while also, in a few amusing moments, wrestling with more civil interactions with people she would have previously avoided at all costs.

Director Joachim Rønning has a relatively easy life, considering the cast and crew at his disposal. That transfers to the screen, with every fun performance taking place in a fantasy land realised by top-notch, and often beautiful, CGI.

Jolie is still perfect in her lead role, whether she's fighting back against scheming humans or practicing a polite smile that hopefully won't terrify anyone she is trying to be nice to. Pfeiffer is equally perfect in her role, the Queen with the scheme, and she proves to be a worthy opponent to Maleficent, happy to make many sacrifices on her way to a greater good. Fanning is very sweet and likeable, Dickinson is as you'd expect a Prince to be (meaning he's not given all that much to do), and Sam Riley once again tries to steal a couple of scenes as Diaval, a "sidekick" to Maleficent. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ed Skrein work quite well under a lot of make-up, Robert Lindsay is a King who is put out of action quite early on in the proceedings, and there are enjoyable little turns from Jenn Murray, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, David Gyasi, and Warwick Davis. (of course . . . is there a big-budget fantasy film that doesn't decide to use Davis?)

It's not up there with the best of these movies, and still has an air of predictability about it, but Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil is surprisingly enjoyable from start to finish. And it's easily much better than the first film.

7/10

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Byzantium (2012)

Director Neil Jordan is no stranger to the vampire movie. He did, quite famously, bring Interview With The Vampire to the big screen, somehow managing to craft a brilliant film despite the death of one of the original cast members (River Phoenix), criticism from author Anne Rice (who eventually recanted when she saw the final result), and ridicule from everyone who thought Tom Cruise incapable of effectively portraying the vampire Lestat. Well, Byzantium may not be quite the achievement that Interview With The Vampire is/was, but it's another very good film from a director who provides viewers with consistently interesting works, barring one or two mis-steps.

Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan are the two young women being a bit vampiric. They seem to be able to walk about in daylight, and don't sleep in coffins or anything, but when it comes time to label their characters . . . . . . . . . vampire is the most suitable title. Struggling to make ends meet and avoid scrutiny from the authorities, the two seem stuck in a vicious cycle, with Arterton's character using sex to make money and help her look after the youngster. But things are complicated by a young man (Caleb Landry Jones) who takes more than a passing interest in Ronan's character. As things build up to a climax, viewers are also told more and more of the main backstory to the characters, a tale that allows Jordan to once again refresh and play with the mythology of vampirism.

Not quite as interesting or thought-provoking as it could be, Byzantium is nevertheless a solid entry into the vampire movie subgenre. Written by Moira Buffini, adapting from her own play (and, admirably, the film never feels stagey at any time), there are some very interesting ideas toyed with, including a theory about vampirism being quite a "men only" club, but not enough time given to any of them.

Jordan does his usual great work as director, but his work here is often downplaying anything that would make the story too pretty or evocative of past horror work. This is the life of a vampire shown in all of its mundanity. Sitting between the fangs-out fun of films such as The Lost Boys, and Vamp, and the grimy, downbeat likes of Martin and The Addiction, Byzantium shows just how boring eternal life can be when it means always having to move along every few years and never being able to get close to anyone.

Arterton and Ronan are both fantastic in the lead roles, with the former really making it easy to believe how men could be won over by her, and the latter doing a great job of being an old head on young shoulders. Caleb Landry Jones overdoes the strangeness of his character, and his accent/mumbling doesn't help, but there are better supporting turns from Daniel Mays, as a very sweet man who becomes smitten, Sam Riley, Uri Gavriel, Tom Hollander, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and Jonny Lee Miller, having great fun as a complete bastard.

Although this is the weakest of the recent crop of vampire movies from the past few years (fans of fangs will most certainly want to check out We Are The Night and Kiss Of The Damned), it's still well worth a watch thanks to most of the main performances, a few great visual moments, and a thoughtful script.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Byzantium-Blu-ray-Gemma-Arterton/dp/B00BJ0RLMK/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1390686045&sr=1-1&keywords=byzantium+blu

Bonus Review: Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent, for those who may have forgotten, is the main villain in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, a film that remains an undeniable high point amongst so many animated classics from the House Of Mouse. This film is all about her, and allows people to see a different side to the famous baddie. Apparently, the story that we all thought we knew didn't play out quite as we were told. Maleficent changes that, giving viewers the other side of events. It is to Sleeping Beauty as Wicked is to The Wizard Of Oz, to make the obvious analogy.

I don't want to give too much away, as there are a number of pleasant surprises here in the way that the plot unfolds, so all I will say in my summation of the storyline is that Maleficent is introduced as a happy, winged fairy (played by Isobelle Molloy) and then experiences something that turns her into the scary adult that cursed a princess named Aurora. The scary adult version of Maleficent is played by Angelina Jolie, and the Aurora who is due to suffer on her sixteenth birthday is played by Elle Fanning.

Let me start with the positives here, because I liked a lot of aspects of Maleficent. The first, and main, ace up its sleeve is Angelina Jolie in the lead role. There may be scenes in which her cheekbones are far too distracting (no, really, I'm serious, I thought they were going to rip through her skin at some points), but her performance is almost perfect throughout. She puts on a decent British accent, looks superb in the costume and make-up, and manages to move from scary to funny to sad as the scenes demand. I know, I know, that's a basic requirement for many actors, although you wouldn't always know it, but she really dances through all of the mood changes with ease. The rest of the cast also do good work, although Sharlto Copley is left to go overboard as the distraught king/father who becomes obsessed with destroying Maleficent before any harm comes to his daughter. Fanning is very likable, and Sam Riley is an absolute standout as Diaval, a crow transformed into a man. Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, and Juno Temple are fine as fairies (although they are given far too many comedy moments that aren't really all that funny), and Brenton Thwaites is perfectly acceptable as the bland Prince Charming type, Prince Phillip, to be exact.

The production values, and the design of the world shown onscreen, are also excellent. There are often an over-abundance of FX shots in each sequence, but they're pretty gorgeous. This is eye candy, and it's eye candy that many will find most satisfying when things move from the sweetness and light of the opening scenes to the darker visual style of the next hour.

Unfortunately, that's about all I have in the way of compliments.

Director Robert Stromberg, enjoying his first time in the big chair, fumbles things from the very beginning. I have little doubt that many decisions were dictated to him, and I should have expected a final product like this from Disney (damn my eyes for letting the trailer deceive me), but the bright, colourful moments don't feel as if they belong in this movie. When things darken, however, they don't go dark enough. This isn't a twist on familiar material. This is an entire rewrite to make everything sweeter, which makes the movie lazy and clumsy when it should have been interesting and much more impressive.

Thankfully for Stromberg, he can quickly point a finger at screenwriter Linda Woolverton, because this is one stinker of a script. Oh, there are some great lines here and there, mostly made great thanks to the delivery by Jolie, but it's 95% awful, made worse by the fact that it's clearly meant to be clever and fun throughout. The voiceover narration, by Janet McTeer, is especially bad, often relating information that could have been shown onscreen. In fact, it's occasionally describing exactly what IS being shown onscreen. At the start of the movie I thought it was irritating, but acceptable, as a shorthand way to throw viewers into the world. But I soon wanted McTeer to just shut up, which she doesn't (okay, she does, but the narration keeps cropping up at various points throughout the movie).

This is a film made enjoyable by the sheer force of Jolie's adopted personality in the main role, and even she can't always do enough to improve the lines that she's given. That would take real magic, and there's none of that here.

5/10

Enjoy Maleficent's original appearance when this is released in the UK in a few days - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleeping-Beauty-Blu-ray-Ken-Anderson/dp/B00JGTSWBK/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1401307120&sr=1-2&keywords=sleeping+beauty

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