While explaining her Freudian Excuse to Aurora, Ingrith reveals that her brother was killed when he was sent to ask the Moorfolk for food to feed their starving kingdom. While she tells the story to paint the fairies as bloodthirsty savages, she also recalls that she and her brother had both suggested simply taking what they needed from the Moorfolk, but their father had insisted they ask for it. Was Ingrith's brother truly murdered without provocation as she suggests, or did he disobey his father's command and pay the price for his own foolishness?
Was Ingrith's relationship with her brother one of actual genuine love or was it completely rooted in them both sharing Fantastic Racism against the Moorfolk—and thus her motivation in revenge is primarily an extension of her own desire to bolster her family's station in life in her own selfish interests with both power and ego? How much she doesn't talk about sadness in losing her brother and how much she was repulsed by her father for being "weak" and wanting peace—same as her husband—would not in any way shape or form make Ingrith even the slightest bit empathetic. While the aspects of her wanting to take on those she holds responsible for her brother's death might be there, it speaks way more to Ingrith by the end of the day simply acting way more into the hatred and desire to conquer or commit genocide that has always been there in her heart.
Angst? What Angst?: A common complaint from critics: Since the villain's plot involves genocide and the climax has an unusually high body count for a Disney movie, the denouement feels a little too happy for those who survive. In particular, the villain’s punishment is being comedically turned into a goat, which seems underwhelming considering the betrayals she’s committed and the deaths that she’s caused.
Critical Dissonance: Just like the otherDisneyremakes released that year, critics don't like this film much, with a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, even lower than the Dumbo remake at 47% and roughly 11% lower than the first film, while the general audience had much better things to say with a 95%.
Designated Love Interest: A somewhat reoccurring criticism of the film is the general lack of romantic chemistry between Phillip and Aurora. It doesn't help that Phillip himself is considered a rather bland character despite taking a level in badass.
Queen Ingrith is an Ax-Crazy and manipulative warmonger who wants to turn the world against Maleficent and wipe out the Moor-folk for selfish and petty reasons, but Michelle Pfeiffer’s charismatic performance easily makes her one of the film’s most entertaining characters. This also caused her to be much better received than King Stefan from the first film.
Gerda was also well-received despite having much less screen time than Ingrith, her massacre of the fairies in particular is fantastic (and terrifying) to watch.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While box office numbers were down overall, it was less so outside the United States (76% of the gross came from international markets). In Brazil and Mexico, it even led the box office for several weeks!
He Really Can Act: Elle Fanning gets to explore more of Aurora's personality in this film compared to the first, and in turn she received much more acclaim from both critics and audiences alike for her role.
Informed Wrongness: Humans are supposed to be wrong and bigoted for still fearing Maleficent, but it's actually pretty understandable why they would be afraid of her; she did in fact put a curse on an innocent baby that would essentially kill her, attacked a castle with a dragon and caused the death of two human kings. While the audience understands that Maleficent isn't evil and that some of her actions were either self-defense or triggered by humans mistreating her, the majority of humans probably don't know this, as the only human she appears to regularly interact with is Aurora. That being said, they have little reason to be so discriminatory against the other Moorland Fair Folk.
Ingrith crosses it long before the present day events of the film when she spreads the story of Sleeping Beauty where she paints the story with Maleficent as a Card-Carrying Villain just so her people would feel Fantastic Racism towards the Moors.
Gerda crosses it either when she shoots down Maleficent with an iron billet as apart of Ingrith’s Evil Plan or when she massacres the fairies trapped inside the church. She also doesn't have the "Just Following Orders" excuse, since she clearly serves Ingrith willingly and displays gleeful sadism when killing the fairies.
Tainted by the Preview: The film was released on October 18, 2019, but the film's novelization, based on an earlier draft of the script, was released ten days prior. A scene in the book implied that fan-favorite Diaval would be romantically linked to Arabella, Queen Ingrith's pet cat, rather than Maleficent, causing some to avoid watching the film out of outrage at the idea of their ship sinking. The controversial scene does not appear in the finished film.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Like the predecessor, it's a PG-rated film. Some reviewers have likened it to "Game of Thrones for children" due to vicious court intrigue and a climax with an intense battle and an attempt at genocide featuring a medieval gas chamber.
