Mistress of Evil picks up five years after the events of Maleficent , which effectively rewrote the story of Sleeping Beauty through a distinctly feminine perspective. By the end of the first movie, themes ranging from non-traditional motherhood to recovery from sexual assault were all explored through the character of Maleficent Angelina Jolie , who is both a hero and a villain.
Mistress of Evil begins as Prince Phillip Harris Dickinson, a recast who earns the distinction of being even more forgettable than his predecessor proposes to Aurora Elle Fanning , hoping for a symbolic union between their two kingdoms as well as a marriage to the love of his life. Aurora, remember, has been Queen of the Moors for the past five years.
No, not those Moors , but rather the fairy folk who live in idyllic separation from humans on the Moors; think Wuthering Heights , except not gray or cold or foggy or haunted or … you know what? Not important. Weird how that sounds like a medieval Meet the Parents. Also weird that it takes at least 15 minutes for them to remember to include the titular role of the movie — you know, Maleficent?
The most tragic thing about Mistress of Evil is that it constantly, purposefully forgets Maleficent is an actual character. Why on earth would you sideline Angelina Jolie like this?
Of all actors! In Maleficent , kings are xenophobic warmongers. Their ambition and paranoia hurts humans and fairies. Queens, meanwhile, defend what they love and protect what they can from the harm kings can do. Mistress of Evil completely reverses this, painting kings and princes as impractical dreamers whose desire for peace makes them weak and instead making the evil queen a vicious, manipulative and genocidal racist.
