2019 seems to be the year Disney decided to go ham on making live action film adaptations of some of the most iconic animated Disney movies, from The Lion King to Aladdin, with even more to come in the future.

It’s Maleficent’s time to shine with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which can safely be classified as one of the better live-action movies from Disney. Released Oct. 18 and starring Angelina Jolie, the sequel is a wonderful movie to watch and admire all the effort that was put in to set design, props, makeup, animation and CGI. Filled with fantastical elements of nature, the sequel is a visually pleasing and plot-satisfactory follow-up to the original story of Maleficent.

Maleficent’s first appearance was in the 1959 movie that was Sleeping Beauty when she was introduced as the villain. The 2014 movie Maleficent then became the wicked woman’s chance to introduce her past, as it featured her beginnings that surely are a tale that understandably fueled her villainy. Maleficent was born a fairy from a magical forest, the Moors, near a human kingdom, and fell in love with a human peasant boy named Stefan, who — long story short — betrays her by cutting off her wings and marrying the king’s daughter.

Stefan has a child, Aurora, with the princess, leaving Maleficent filled with hatred for the little girl and prompting her to place the well-known spindle curse on her. Maleficent finds herself bonding with Aurora and lifts the curse from her herself with “true love’s kiss.”

Never seeing the first films didn’t stop me from liking the sequel. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil only emphasizes Maleficent’s rage and pure emotion through a truthfully mostly predictable yet action-filled plot. In this movie, Prince Philip (Harris Dickinson) proposes to Aurora (Elle Fanning), which leads Philip’s mother, Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) to invite Maleficent and Aurora to dinner. A small argument at the dinner table morphs into a seemingly harmful threat by Maleficent because Philip’s father was placed under a sleeping curse.

After escaping the scene, Maleficent is shot by an arrow but then rescued by another being of her kind called the “Dark Feys.” Maleficent, deciding Aurora has chosen her path of being with other humans, stays with the Dark Feys as they recognize she is extremely powerful and could be an asset to attacking the humans. After a great war between the Dark Feys and the humans, Ingrith tries her attempt at murder a few times, but is angered to have her plans foiled. The plot starts off as a stereotypical and cliché “Character A realizes Character B doesn’t accept them so now they don’t know what to do” story, but this rapidly changes.

Jolie, who plays both roles of Maleficent in both movies, said in an interview with Collider.com that she personally relates to the movie. “Maleficent was harmed, in her life, and she’d lost herself and her ability to be soft and feel love,” she said. “The love of a child certainly changed my life. Being a mother brought out something in me that completely transformed me.”

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a bit of a bore in the beginning, but the movie turns over a new leaf with shocking plot twists, dramatic music and effective character development as the film progresses. The best part of the sequel is that it radiates a heartfelt and emotional aura that is an ample addition to the suspenseful aspects of the movie.