Maleficent is the movie that largely gets the credit for creating the ongoing money train that is the Disney live-action remake factory. It's only fitting that it will be the first of those films to get a sequel. Angelina Jolie has spent most of her time behind the camera since she made the original film, but she's back, and a new video from Disney shows just what the actress goes through in order to transform into the Mistress of Evil. Check it out.
While AC?DC's "Back in Black" may make one think more of Iron Man than Maleficent, the song is pretty versatile and works well enough here. The video opens with a cool bit of video editing fun. Angelina Jolie's hair is being put up so that it can fit inside the iconic Maleficent headpiece, but in the opening it appears that we're getting Jolie taking her hair down, run backwards so that her hair seems to magically form into a braid. It's a bit hard to tell but it looks like the entire video may actually be running in reverse.
We see her artificial cheekbones added and the headpiece put on. Then the teeth go in and the one piece of color is added to the otherwise black and white video, very red lips. It's certainly a striking image of a very striking actress.
She certainly looks the part, but anybody who saw the original Maleficent knows that's the case. Whatever weaknesses that Maleficent had, Jolie portrayal of Disney's most famous villain wasn't one of them.
The sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, will continue the story in a way that Disney's animated classic Sleeping Beauty never did. It will see Maleficent's surrogate daughter Aurora getting married to her prince, but a conflict between the parents causes everything to unravel. Maleficent appears to return to her more villainous ways. It also appears we'll be learning more about where Maleficent comes from. She's a unique creature in the moors where she lives, but it turns out based on the trailers that she's not unique in the world.
Angelina Jolie as Maleficent is one of those actors and roles that seems absolutely perfect together, and as we watch her transform here, it all just feels right, with that smile on her face, you get the impression that she feels that way too.
With this being the first sequel to a Disney live-action remake since 102 Dalmatians, it will be interesting to see just what sort of adventure has been cooked up. While much of Maleficent contained brand new story that wasn't part of the animated Sleeping Beauty, that was all still at the core of the movie. Here the entire thing is going to be brand new.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits theaters October 18.
