Speaking of Disney's classic black fairy tales, "Sleeping Curse" must be nominated on the list.
In June 2014, "Sleeping Curse" was released in the mainland and successfully earned nearly 300 million at the box office, achieving great success.
The film's beautiful costumes have won praise and recognition from the audience, and were nominated for Best Costume Design at the 87th Academy Awards.
And after five years, this high-profile classic live-action fairy tale movie has struck again.
On October 18, "Sleeping Curse 2" was simultaneously released in North America, China and other places.
According to data from Maoyan Pro, the pre-sale box office of "Sleeping Curse 2" on the opening day was 9.292 million.
As of 10:00 on the 19th, the cumulative box office was only over 50 million in more than one day of release, and the total box office in the mainland is predicted to be 255 million.
Starring Angelina Jolie, Sleeping Curse is based on the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, but it is an "anti-routine" film.
The protagonist of the film is no longer the beautiful princess who fell into a deep sleep in Sleeping Beauty, but chooses to focus on the "vicious" witch Malefissen who has cast a spell.
In the first part of The Sleeping Curse, the witch Maleficent awakens the sleeping princess Airo with the "Kiss of True Love".
Such a subversive fairy tale ending is surprising and makes this film loved by the audience.
In the sequel "Sleeping Curse 2", not only Angelina Jolie, Ellie Fanning, Sam Reilly and other original people returned, but also the heavyweight Cass surprised to join.
Angelina Jolie has been named "the sexiest female star in the history of cinema", and in "Sleeping Curse 2", the witch Marlene Fissen, played by her, is painted with flaming red lips, the top horns of her head, a pair of black wings on her back, and a thick dark wind.
It only takes a simple look back to carry the whole field in an instant.
However, in Sleeping Curse 2, the domineering witch will meet her fierce rival for the first time.
Known as the First Wasp Woman, the film queens Michelle Pfeiffer and Angelina Jolie are known as hollywood's two.
In Sleeping Curse 2, Princess Arlo is proposed by Prince Philip, and Queen Ingris, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, will also become Princess Arlo's "mother-in-law", just rising up with Malefissen.
This peak-level contest of "mother-in-law vs mother-in-law" will not only threaten the "mother-daughter love" between Malefithsen and Arlo, but also set off a big war between the human world and the elves, which has become the biggest attraction of this film.
In terms of the visual effects of the film, "Sleeping Curse 2" is undoubtedly more gorgeous and shocking than the first one.
In Sleeping Curse 2, Oscar-nominated director Joe Ajim Ronnie teamed up with the Beauty and the Beast gold medal production team to present us with a magical world.
Following Maleficent, we see the strange elves in the Forest of Moore, and see the mysterious and ancient alien tribes, and every scene is vivid and beautiful.
Under the personal supervision of Hollywood art director Patrick Tateplow, whether it is the golden glow castle or the magnificent Magic Forest, it is dazzling.
In terms of clothing, "Sleeping Curse 2" also made a bloody investment, and invited the famous costume designer Ellen McLannick, who has worked with Julie many times, to join in, and designed different styles of gorgeous costumes according to the different personalities of each character.
In the film, there is a scene in which Maleficent lowers her long silky black hair, wraps herself in black wings, and walks barefoot in a mysterious tree hole that emits a silvery white light.
This scene from the shape to the scene are full of aesthetics, people feel very stunning, pulled out alone is a mv I believe!
The special effects shots in "Sleeping Curse 2" are also remarkable.
In the film, Queen Ingris provokes a war between humans and elves, and the peak duel between races is grand and magnificent, and various action scenes are exciting.
The scene when Maleficent casts his magic is also very cool and impressive.
Even the authors of Forbes magazine commented that the special effects of "Sleeping Curse 2" can be compared to "Avatar".
But although "Sleeping Curse 2" gave us a luxurious visual feast, the film's reputation is still slightly inferior to the first one.
The first "Sleeping Curse" had a Douban score of 7.1 and a Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating of 53%, while the sequel "Sleeping Curse 2" had a Douban score of 6.3 and a Rotten Tomatoes freshness of only 43%.
The main reason for the difference in word-of-mouth between the two is the character design and plot in the film.
In terms of character design, the same villain, in the first part, the witch Maleficent broke through the stereotypes in the story of "Sleeping Beauty".
Although it is still a dark wind, it does not lose the "contrast cuteness", and the personality is extremely full and vivid, which is loved.
In Sleeping Curse 2, the vicious queen played by Michelle Pfeiffer lacks these human details.
Whether it is to their husbands or children, they are equally ruthless, like a character who only exists to play a villain, the image is very thin, and people can't help but be a little bored.
In terms of plot, the witch's "kiss of true love" in the first part of "Sleeping Curse" awakens the sleeping princess.
This subversive innovation directly calls out the clichéd ending of the traditional fairy tale "the princess and the prince live happily together" and becomes the biggest highlight of "Sleeping Curse".
But in the second part, we regret to see that Princess Ailuo still can't escape the fate of falling into the cliché.
The prince who used to "play soy sauce" suddenly became true love, and Princess Ailuo even suspected the former "fairy godmother" under the conspiracy of the "mother-in-law", which made me look confused.
In the face of such a "pit mother" daughter, I don't know how Maleficent feels?
And what makes me feel most amazing is that in order to fit the theme of the "Sleeping Curse" series, in the second part, the prince's father, the king who is also in the position of "playing soy sauce", fell into a deep sleep.
The beautiful princess who has been sleeping for a hundred years can still become a gimmick, and the middle-aged king who has been sleeping for a hundred years is a bit unspeakable, and such a design is a bit deliberately catering to the suspicion of the theme of the movie, which is very embarrassing.
Overall, whether it is the shocking visual effects in "Sleeping Curse 2" or the same stage between Angelina Jolie and michelle Pfeiffer and Ellie Fanning, it is a major attraction of the film, but the plot will still become the biggest hard injury in this movie.
Bluestone Film Editorial Department 丨leslie