43
Metascore
40 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75USA TodayBrian TruittUSA TodayBrian TruittJolie’s magnetism, plus the way she toes the line between being a fairy version of Batman and a menacing mistress of not-quite-evil-but-pretty-close, is why these “Maleficent” movies work. She fits the character as well as her endless cycle of evolving costumes.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattEntertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFor kids maybe this is still magical; grownups, though, will waste many long, busily bedazzled minutes wondering why the powers that were able to bring Pfeiffer and Jolie together on screen couldn’t do at least marginally better by them both, and give them parts to truly sink their movie-star teeth into.
- 60EmpireHelen O'HaraEmpireHelen O'HaraAn improvement on the first film, in the end, and an encouraging rallying cry against fear and intolerance, but it’s still far too busy and baroque to match its leading lady’s elegance.
- 60TheWrapMonica CastilloTheWrapMonica CastilloTragically, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil does not give Jolie and Pfeiffer nearly enough time to face off against each other.
- 50The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerIt’s hard to say what’s odder about Maleficent 2: that Jolie disappears for long stretches of it, or that her elegant, imperious darkness isn’t much missed when she does.
- 50Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangLike most sequels that exist for chiefly commercial reasons, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil isn’t a great movie; with its flat dialogue, overblown battles and cloying CGI critters, it’s not even a particularly good one. . . . But it’s also not without its pleasures.
- 40Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonMistress Of Evil invests heavily in inundating our eyeballs with relentless enchantment, which unfortunately translates into largely dreary CG renderings of pixies, sentient trees and other woodland critters
- 30VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeIf America goes to war sometime in the next year, pundits will have a field day with this movie. But barring that, it’s just another ugly, unpleasant slog through a disposable fantasy universe. The true Disney villains in this case are off screen, sabotaging the studio’s canon from within.