The History

I am fascinated by history and like many pedantic people can become furiously annoyed when their interests are not portrayed accurately in film and television. The Great neatly sidesteps this entire problem, the title card of the show has an asterisk after the title explaining this is “an occasionally true story”. There are numerous and significant historical inaccuracies. For example, Peter often talks about being overshadowed by his father, Peter the Great, but Peter the Great was not the father of this Peter but the show is more concerned with the grand theme of the story. Catherine was a foreign princess who became ruler of one of the most powerful countries in the world, a monarch of the Enlightenment who brought sweeping changes to Russia. The show makes it very clear that it is using the broadest of strokes of Russian history.

The Characters

Elle Fanning plays Catherine and it is through her we see the story unfolds. Catherine is a young, intelligent (if a little naïve) noble who feels she has won the lottery of marriages when told she is to be wife to the Russian tsar. And then she meets the Russian tsar. Catherine is very much influenced by the Enlightenment; she is a proponent of science, modernity, liberal government, freedom of the press and finds that with Peter, and Russia, these are not popular concepts.

Nicholas Hoult is endlessly entertaining as Peter. At first Peter seems little more than the standard portrayal of an absolute monarch who gets power too young and doesn’t have the talent or intelligence to do the job. He is obsessed with sex, food and alcohol, is casually violent to most of those around him (up to and including murder), seemingly unconcerned with the lives of the millions of people he rules. Catherine is little more than a pretty bride who will provide him with children. There is, however, a little bit more to Peter. But not much more. Providing it won’t trouble him he wants the people to love him, he does have friends of a sort who he cares about, and he can actually develop feelings for Catherine.

Another character worth looking at is Elizabeth, Peter’s aunt. She is portrayed as eccentric bordering on delusional with very little connection to reality but a pleasant and nice person. She cares for Peter and wants Catherine to be happy. However, it quickly becomes clear that she is by no means as eccentric as she might appear and is an expert on the often deadly politics of the Russian court and will get involved directly when necessary. Elizabeth wants everyone to be happy but she is a survivor first and foremost. The idea of feigning madness or stupidity (or exaggerating it) to survive in a hostile environment has been around for literally centuries – both Hamlet and I, Claudius use it.

The Plot

As Peter’s stupidity, cruelty and ignorance become more and more clear to Catherine she decides to act and starts a plot against Peter and it doesn’t take long to find people who don’t like Peter.

There is Marial – her maid but who was once an aristocrat until her family was punished by Peter.

There is Orlo – the intelligent government minister who Peter ignores and belittles.

There is Velementov – an aging but capable general who Peter, again, ignores and belittles (as a viewer you can see Peter creating his own problems – maybe don’t insult the person in charge of the people with all the guns).

As Catherine’s plot develops over the course of the first season Peter swings between love and hate, violence and peace, action and inaction and is almost completely oblivious to the danger around him.

Is It Great?

The Great is an enjoyable and interesting period comedy-drama that may not teach much actual history and may well turn people towards history. After watching HBO’s Rome, another show which takes a lot of liberties with history, I started reading books about it which has lead to a love of history which continues to this day. Of course, The Great is not trying to educate people but rather take a fascinating period of history and make it entertaining.

Also Read: The Many Collaborations of Michael Winterbottom & Steve Coogan

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A magical story about love and war

Just a quick recap to Maleficent. Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), a compassionate but heart-breaking fairy, finds Aurora, the newborn daughter of her ex-lover Stefan. Being vengeful against her and Stefan at first, Maleficent opens us towards Aurora and makes her the princess of the Moors. The goal is to unite the human kingdom and the magical one under one throne and that’s the start of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. After meeting and falling madly in love with each other, Aurora (Elle Fanning) is now engaged to her Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson). This is the perfect opportunity o unite two lovebirds but also two different kingdoms.

However, not everyone shares that same joy. Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), the mother of Philip, sees Aurora as a mysterious and dark intruder like Maleficent and Maleficent herself doesn’t want to give up her daughter to the humans. During the oh-so-important family dinner, it all goes off the rails. King John (Robert Lindsay) falls ill and Maleficent is being accused of poisoning him. When Aurora chooses the side of her in-laws and breaks her loyalty to Maleficent, Maleficent feels betrayed and is out for revenge. She’s not the only furious, vengeful and powerful woman. Queen Ingrith wants to honour the legacy of her husband and gather her troops to protect her kingdom, no matter the consequences. It becomes an immensely heated battle. Who will win this war and what will happen to the union of the kingdoms?

Characters are key

There was already the battle between “dark vs white”, “good versus evil”, “magical creature versus human” in the 2014 film and it’s that same conflict that Rønning is showing in this movie. Because of that and also because it’s a fairytale, the storyline seems very predictable. However, there’s still some elements that will make you fall in love with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

The characters in this sequel are both hit and miss. The biggest hit is without a doubt casting Pfeiffer (Avengers: Endgame, Murder on the Orient Express) as Queen Ingrith. If you’re a fan of accents, you might wonder why they cast her but once you’ve seen her in the full battle outfit as the furious, head-strong and dark Queen, you know why. Pfeiffer puts on such a bombastic and powerful performance as the warrior but also a more emotional and friendly one as the caring and protective mother(-in-law). The scenes between her and Jolie (By the Sea, The Tourist) are the dark highlights of this movie. Of course, this is also because of Jolie’s stunning acting. Yes, sometimes her white and thin face can be a little bit over-the-top but once you get over that you see an energetic, impressive and badass Jolie. Luckily for us and this film, Sam Riley (Radioactive, Sometimes Always Never) is returning as Diaval, Maleficent’s loyal servant. Riley brings an immense rock ‘n roll vibe, tons of humour, wittiness and funny moments to the screen

This film is not only about the war but also about love and the marriage between Aurora and her Philip. In a relationship, it’s all about chemistry and passion but that’s not visible in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This has absolutely nothing to do with Fanning (Teen Spirit, Mary Shelley) her wonderful, beautiful and strong performance, especially during the second part of the film when she gets the chance to shine bright. The reason why there’s no chemistry is the character of Prince Philip and the associated acting performance from Dickinson (County Lines, The Darkest Minds). It falls incredibly flat, it’s bland and doesn’t do this movie any justice. We would have loved to see Brenton Thwaites again as Philip.

Is there such a thing as too much CGI?

In a fantasy film like this, the CGI should be on point and again, we’re divided about this. The special effects are stunningly made, definitely the eye-catcher of this movie and fit the story incredibly well. It brings the fairytale element to life, especially when the ones taking place in the magical forest. At first, you will be swept off your feet by all the romance, the clever and sticky special effects. Sadly, the great VFX will fade when things are heated and becoming more darker. There’s just overuse of CGI. It becomes too much, a little bit of confusion and a mess. As a result of that, Jolie and Pfeifer can’t show their acting skills. Don’t get us started how cringy it feels to see Juno Temple (Lost Transmissions, The Pretenders), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, Hampstead) and Imelda Staunton (Downton Abbey, Finding Your Feet) as the three CGI fairies.

Not great but certainly not bad

Rønning is no stranger when it comes to making big-budget films as he sat in the directors’ chair during Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Just like that film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil doesn’t reach its full potential. The reasons for that are the extravagant use of special effects and some half-written characters. However, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is still an entertaining, marvellous and eye-catching film because of some strong acting performances, humour, and vividness.

Rating: (3 / 5)

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