Cast – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville & Michelle Pfeiffer

Director – Joachim Rønning

Genre – Fantasy/Action

Running Time – 118 minutes

In this one we find Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies and dark new forces at play. The years have been kind to Maleficent and Aurora. Their relationship, born of heartbreak, revenge and ultimately love, has flourished. Yet the hatred between man and the fairies still exists.

Aurora’s impending marriage to Prince Phillip is cause for celebration in the kingdom of Ulstead and the neighboring Moors, as the wedding serves to unite the two worlds. When an unexpected encounter introduces a powerful new alliance, Maleficent and Aurora are pulled apart to opposing sides in a Great War, testing their loyalties and causing them to question whether they can truly be family.

We admit, the above sounds all airy fairy, taken straight from a fairy tale and you wouldn’t be incorrect in that assumption but then again coming from Disney, what do you expect? Perfect for the entire family, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is indeed a great visual watch with every element presented in a crisp and quality manner. The story line is predictable but, like with most things, it’s not always about the destination but more about the journey and that’s probably the best way to describe this movie. The journey is a great one and makes it worth every minute of watching.

A great reintroduction for Jolie back into the movieverse, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil will lend itself well to many especially the female crowd, kids as well as anyone who enjoys general Disney movies. A typical movie it is from the studio but a formula that has worked well for them over the years and its evident that its business as usual with this one. Its cute and charming, we like it and that’s why it gets a 7 out of 10 from us. Definitely would make for a good excuse for a family outing this week, it’s officially in cinemas from today.

Our thanks to MNet Movies (in partnership with Ster-Kinekor) for the lovely screening.

From Friday, 13 April to Sunday, 22 April DStv Premium customers will experience an unprecedented cinematic journey with the M-Net Movies Marvel Studios Pop-Up Channel. This super-powered channel, which will be added to the already existing six M-Net Movies channels on DStv, will be available for ten days only on channel 109 and will feature 15 of the most pulsating films from the massively popular Marvel Studios franchise.

During these ten days, the M-Net Movies Marvel Studios Pop-Up Channel will run from 06:00 CAT to 00:00 daily. Each day of the week a film from the franchise, which has overlapping storylines, will be screened in chronological order, i.e. according to how the films were released in cinema. Starting with 2008’s Iron Man, viewers can revisit the stories of their beloved heroes all the way through to Spiderman: Homecoming, which will close the channel on Sunday 22, April.

“This channel is a special treat for the legions of Marvel fans—both old and new—who have enjoyed the live-action exploits of favourite Marvel Superheroes in films that express the unique vision and creativity of their filmmakers, and deliver thrilling action and visual spectacles with relatable characters,” says M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard. “The timing of our M-Net Movies Marvels Studios Pop-Up Channel is also absolutely perfect with the franchise currently creating an incredible buzz worldwide”  

The release of the recent Black Panther became the biggest film of all time in East, West and South Africa, showing that Marvel Studios is at the forefront of the comic-book-turned-action-pop-culture phenomenon. While the M-Net Movies Marvel Pop-Up channel will give DStv viewers the opportunity to enjoy more gems of the franchise, which has been ten years in the making, it also serves as a lead-up to the new Avengers: Infinity War which hits South African cinemas on Friday, 27 April 2018.

On top of the 15 feature films (see list below) there will also be programming linked to the behind the scenes of the movies, such as: United We Stand, Divided We Fall; The Making of Captain America: Civil War; Guide to The Galaxy with James Gunn and more. 

Additionally, avid fans of the blockbuster franchise will be treated to a range of documentaries offering incredible insight into the history of Marvel. These include: Marvel 75 Years From Pulp to Pop; From Asgard To Earth (Thor); Marvel’s Captain America: 75 Heroic Years; Ultimate Iron Man: The Making of Iron Man 2 Rebuilding the Suit; Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe just to mention a few!

The fifteen Marvel Studios blockbusters on the channel are:

• Iron Man (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Thor (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Avenges: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Find the schedule on mnet.tv/MMMarvel or on DStv.com under printable schedules as well as on the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) on your decoder.