Sleepy Hollow 2 review: a race showdown that's as dramatic as the villains are tasteless

When it comes to Disney's classic dark fairy tale, Sleepy Hollow must be on the list of nominees.
In June 2014, Sleepy Hollow was released in the Mainland and managed to gross nearly $300 million at the box office, making it a huge success. The beautiful costumes in the film even achieved critical acclaim and recognition from audiences, earning it a nomination for Best Costume Design at the 87th Academy Awards.
And after five years, the much-anticipated classic live-action fairy tale film is back.
On 18 October, Sleepy Hollow 2 was released simultaneously in North America, China and many other places.
According to Cat's Eye Pro, Sleepy Hollow 2's opening day advance ticket sales were $9.292 million.
By 10:00 on the 19th, it had been in theaters for more than a day, with a cumulative box office of just over $50 million and a projected mainland total of $255 million. Sleepy Hollow, starring Angelina Jolie, is based on the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, but is an "anti-climactic" film.
Instead of the beautiful princess who falls asleep in Sleeping Beauty, the film focuses on the "wicked" witch who casts a spell, Marlene Faison.
In Sleepy Hollow Part 1, the witch Marlene Faison awakens the sleeping princess Eloise with a "true love's kiss". This subversion of the fairy tale ending was a surprise and made the film a hit with audiences.
In the sequel, Sleepy Hollow 2, not only do Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Sam Riley return to the original cast, but there are even more heavyweight cast members joining the film.
Angelina Jolie has been named "the sexiest actress in the history of cinema" and in Sleepy Hollow 2, she plays the sorceress Marlene Faison with flaming red lips, spiky horns and a pair of black wings on her back, with a strong dark style.
It only takes a simple glance back to instantly carry the scene. However, in Sleepy Hollow 2, this dominant witch will have her first enemy.
Michelle Pfeiffer, best known as the original Wasp Woman, and Angelina Jolie are known as two of Hollywood's "sirens".
In Sleepy Hollow 2, Princess Elohim is proposed to by Prince Fili, and Michelle Pfeiffer's Queen Inglis will become her "mother-in-law-to-be", taking on Marlene Faison head-on. This "mother-in-law vs. mother-in-law-to-be" battle is not only a threat to the "mother-daughter" bond between Marlene Faison and Elohim, but also a battle between the human world and the elves, which is the main attraction of the film.
In terms of visual effects, Sleepy Hollow 2 is certainly more gorgeous than the first film.
In Sleepy Hollow 2, Oscar-nominated director Joaquim Rooney has teamed up with the gold medal-winning production team of Beauty and the Beast to bring us a world of magic that is out of this world. Following Marlene Faison, we see the strange and wonderful elves of the Moor Forest, the mysterious and ancient fey tribes, and every scene comes to life with breathtaking beauty.
With Hollywood art director Patrick Tatepulo's personal touch, the scenes are a sight to behold, from the gleaming castles to the magnificent forests of Mull. In terms of costumes, Sleepy Hollow 2 has also gone to great lengths to have the famous costume designer Ellen McClanek, who has worked with Jolie on many occasions, join in and create gorgeous costumes to suit the different personalities of each character.
In the film, there is a scene where Marlene Faison lets down her long, silky black hair, wraps herself in black wings and walks barefoot through a mysterious cave of trees glowing silver and white. The scene is so beautiful, from the look to the setting, that I'd believe it was a music video on its own!
The special effects sequences in Sleepy Hollow 2 are equally impressive.
In the film, Queen Ingres starts a war between the humans and the elves, and the showdown between the races is a magnificent one, with action sequences that will make your heart soar. The scenes in which Marlene Faison works her magic are also very cool and impressive.
Even a writer for Forbes magazine said that the special effects sequences in Sleepy Hollow 2 were comparable to those in Avatar.
But despite the lavish visual feast that Sleepy Hollow 2 gave us, the film's reputation has been slightly less favourable than that of the first film.
The first film, Sleepy Hollow, has a 7.1 rating on Douban and a 53% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the sequel, Sleepy Hollow 2, has a 6.3 rating on Douban and a 43% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The main reason for the difference in reputation lies in the character design and plot of the film.
In terms of character design, the same villainous character, in the first film, the witch Marlene Faison breaks away from the stereotypical persona of the Sleeping Beauty story.
Although still dark and dark, the character is still "contrasting" and has a very vivid personality. In Sleepy Hollow 2, Michelle Pfeiffer's malevolent queen lacks these human details.
She seems equally hard-hearted, both towards her husband and her children, a character who exists only to play the villain, and her portrayal is so thin as to be a bit boring. In terms of plot, Sleepy Hollow's first film features a witch's "true love's kiss" that awakens the sleeping princess.
This subversive innovation directly contradicts the traditional fairy tale ending of "the princess and the prince live happily ever after", and is the biggest highlight of Sleepy Hollow. In the second film, however, we regret to see that Princess Elohim still falls into the clichéd category.
The prince, who was once a "mere playboy", suddenly becomes a true lover, and Princess Elohim even suspects her former "fairy godmother" under the machinations of her "mother-in-law-to-be", which left me in a daze.
I wonder how Marlene Faison feels when faced with such a "motherless" daughter? What I found most amazing was that, in keeping with the theme of the Sleepy Hollow series, in the second film, the prince's father, the king, who is also in a "mere" position, is put to sleep.
A beautiful princess who has been asleep for 100 years can be a gimmick, but a middle-aged king who has been asleep for 100 years is a bit of a misnomer, and the design is a bit of a deliberate attempt to fit the theme of the film, which is awkward.
Overall, the stunning visuals in Sleepy Hollow 2, as well as the drama between Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning, are the main attractions of the film, but the lack of heart in the plot is still the biggest drawback of the film.