2014’s Maleficent retold a Disney animated classic.
It brought together some live-action Disney magic with some Angelina Jolie star power and made for quite the spectacle.
The only downside for me watching the first installment was its quick runtime which in turn condensed everything down tenfold. The entire film felt rushed and there wasn’t a second to breathe and take it all in.
The first film ended just the way it should so the announcement of a sequel was very strange to me.
It wasn’t needed, was it even wanted?
But nevertheless, it’s here and I went to go and see it in full 4DX glory.
Review
Mistress Of Evil does have an extended runtime and gives the story much-needed room the expand.
Whilst this was rectified I can’t help but think that due to this they tried to expand the world so drastically that it became overly convoluted.
It seems as thou they just can’t get the balance right!
Whilst our old cast returns which is great to see, new characters and even new races are added to the world-building. Why? It wasn’t really needed, it all gets a bit crazy.
Picking up five years where we left off, Aurora is set to marry Prince Phillip. Up first is the meeting of the inlaws.
What results is a stand-off between Maleficent and Queen Ingrith, Philip’s mother who has an evil agenda.
Chaos ensues and Aurora seems to take sides with the humans, Maleficent takes flight and retreats to her neck of the woods.
It is within this segment that Maleficent discovers her heritage and meets up with more people like her. Fairies who went into hiding after nearly being wiped out many years ago.
It’s here where the film rather loses it’s way as nothing is explained as to why Maleficent lives in the moors and the rest live underground.
Why haven’t they met sooner? Why were they in the right place at the right time?
So many more unanswered questions but sadly, none of this mattered as 4DX swept me up in all of it’s Disney live-action awesomeness.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 4DX
Every flap of Maleficent’s wings brings a whoosh of air in the auditorium.
A whoosh that has me beaming from ear to ear.
The same beam across my face as I had watching Lion King.
My chair moving with every flight the fairies took, so subtle, so majestic with every pan and movement of the camera replicated perfectly within the motion of the seats.
Limited scents in the auditorium once again made this a limited scent experience but everything else in the auditorium was perfect.
Bubbles danced as the fairies glide through the moors. Fog fills the cinema when evil descends and the 3D glasses make everything just pop.
The addition of the glasses adds to the 4DX experience as it cancels out some of your peripheral vision.
When normally you can see the fans / smoke machines / devices all working the glasses darken your vision and as a result confines the gadgets and gizmos to the darkness.
Overall
Whilst there is limited consistency within the script the film is an entertaining watch nonetheless.
Once again the 4DX tech has made the film even better than it actually was and I wouldn’t want to see it any other way!
Maleficent 4DX Review by Sean Evans
Summary
Whilst a sequel was certainly not needed it was still very entertaining to watch despite some questionable plot holes. World building wasn’t particularly necessary for this instalment but the writers saw this direction fit to pad out an otherwise simple story.
Thankfully 4DX stepped in and blew away the flaws and reverted me to a child on Christmas Eve once again in this Disney live action spectacle. I’m starting to think 4DX and Disney movies are a match made in heaven!
