As one of the few non-adapted semi-original films Disney has planned for 2019, Maleficent 2 still relies heavily on Angelina Jolie's charisma. Although Hollywood has struggled to create a film project that suits her in the years after "Agent Short", 2014's "Maleficent" provided her with enough fun and a comfortable stage.
Similar to "Frozen" released half a year ago, "Maleficent" brings just the right modern upgrade to the original context while retelling the classic fairy tale: with modern emotions with Ji color, women are lifted from the waiting list. liberated from stereotypes. After the 6-year development cycle, the half-yearly release of "Maleficent 2" faces Hollywood that is more radical and left-leaning than its predecessor, and is more disconnected from the general public in American society.
Today's Hollywood is more filled with malicious delusions of persecution than it was five years ago, and in the overwhelming slogan-style propaganda, it also cares less about the importance of reconciliation and reaching reconciliation. The same is true of female self-liberation, "Captain Marvel" is at best a parody of "Frozen"; and "Maleficent"'s anti-hero maternal image has not been deeply explored or reasonably affirmed in the script in the sequel, but only forced Just repeat the "misunderstanding-conflict-flip" in the previous work. The emotional drive in the previous game was replaced by an excuse to start a CG war.
Maleficent 2 would have been the perfect complement to the previous film—after all, the entire film was built around the conflict between Angelina Jolie and the equally beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer. Yes - but the weak characters, the inflection point of the plot when the IQ goes offline, and the magic war on the street are not beyond the scope of ordinary fantasy movies.
On the one hand, as a cartoon-style family movie, Disney's description of the brutal content of ethnic cleansing in "Maleficent 2" is not restrained, and even appears insensitive; on the other hand, the "political" waving on the screen Yes" the stick, but the hammer hits louder than ever.
Disney and Hollywood, headed by it, are reluctant to stop squeezing the cultural heritage they have created - which is also due to their capitalist nature. While the vision of commoditizing artistic creation hasn't always been a disappointment—Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella captures the allure of the Disney spirit so well—it's designed to appeal to a new generation of audiences at the same time. Non-artistic content that reflects the current American social ideology will always make art itself, which has no national boundaries and appreciation period, become national boundaries and appreciation period.
In the case of Maleficent, one of the big successes was that the two directors, Robert Stomberg and Joachim Ronney, were both keen to create visually gorgeous, rococo-inspired magic. The world is very focused and accomplished. The latter has successfully broadened the boundaries of this original world in "Maleficent 2", and whether it is a long-range shot or a sports shot, it has a strong visual appeal.
The groundbreaking anti-hero setting of the previous game also gave Disney the illusion that as long as it was riding on the ride of PC, it would be able to "deepen the theme" in a way that "reflects the truth". Themes of divided nations and racial antagonisms are not unattainable in a world rife with magic and magical creatures, and are even very appropriate (as in The Witcher 3). But the script seems unwilling to spend more time on the "friction-escalation-outbreak", and puts the responsibility for causing the conflict entirely on the head of the individual - a typical villain - as if as long as she is solved, the whole society will participate in Each individual of the atrocity never existed, and her family treated her as if she never existed.
This mashup of pseudo-realism and idealism reveals that Hollywood, which is increasingly left-leaning, is only using the issues of correctness and political determinism to attack the enemy, and lacks the ability to truly deal with them. Ironically, this true escapism is what Hollywood does best.
In this way, the creative pressure of "Maleficent 2" is completely handed over to the actors. A solid performance, paired with an unspeakably awkward plot, a smart-ass court intrigue, or a Marvel or Game of Thrones-style final battle, seems to be enough to get the audience in. But a movie that attracts audiences doesn't mean it's not a good movie.
The pictures full of temptation and seemingly deep social metaphors cannot hide the utilitarian and empty nature of "Maleficent 2" transformed into "The Legend of the Stepmother". Just relying on the performances of the leading actors, it is difficult to really arouse the empathy of the audience like the previous work. While Disney has faded away from undermining women, it has picked up on a more cheesy, over-the-top obsession with CG wars.
Like most sequels that exist primarily for commercial reasons -- even Zombieland 2, which was 10 years later on the same weekend -- Maleficent 2 does expand the story universe, but only in the actual physics space without depth and growth. It is not a good thing that such a magical movie without excessive investment has become mainstream in the post-"Lord of the Rings" era.
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