Aladdin (2019)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
Starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott
The original Aladdin is truly is one of Disney's greatest animated features, right up there with Beauty & The Beast and The Lion King. Personally I consider it to be one of my favorite films. If I were to just do a ranking of my favorite Disney films (Excluding Pixar or any subsidiaries), Beauty would be number one, and I think Aladdin at number two.
So the live-action remake has been out for a couple of weeks now. Critics are pretty split, while everyone on Twitter and the like seem to love it, and me…I just don't get it. This wasn't that great.
The film follows the same thread of the animated original. A lovable street urchin named Aladdin (Massoud) falls for Jasmine, the Princess of Agrabah (Scott). She's clearly smitten with him too, but the law states that only a prince can marry a princess. Aladdin gets caught in the crosshairs of the power-hungry vizier Jafar (Marwan Kenzari), who promises to reward him handsomely, if he retrieves a magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Things don't go as planned and Jafar double crosses Aladdin, but he is the one who winds up in the possession of the lamp and master of the Genie (Smith) inside. Aladdin strikes up a bond with The Genie, and begins a plan to use his three wishes to become a prince and court Princess Jasmine.
Aladdin doesn't stray too far from its source material. There are a few changes, some rather interesting that do work to an extent. Jasmine is more driven. She doesn't want to just explore the world, she wants to be the Sultan and help her people. The Genie still wishes to be free, but he's given a bit of a charming subplot, which I won't spoil. Jafar is given…a few lines of backstory? Yeah we'll get back to him. The problem is none of these ideas are really developed or focused on. The film's biggest concern seems to be playing it safe and telling the story you know as best it can.
The problem is it doesn't do a great job at doing that. The first act is a real chore to get through. Things don't really pick up until we reach the Cave of Wonders. What follows is more up beat and fluid, but there are still moments where the film hits hard speed bumps. There's an actual debate over the loyalty of the Captain of the Guards, a character who at this point in the film, we have had very minimal time with. On a whole the film just has so little energy. It falls flatter than the hand-drawn animation that made the original *rimshot*
I know it's not fair to compare the energy levels of a cartoon to live-action, because in animation you can pretty much exaggerate everything, but if you're gonna remake an animated film in live-action then hell you brought that comparison on yourself.
What about the cast? Well to start, Will Smith as The Genie, who I think everyone thought was going to be the worst part of the film, ended up being the best. He really carries the thing. He makes the Genie character his own. No one could ever touch the original performance of the late great Robin Williams, but I think what the filmmakers realized, is that part was written with him in mind. He was himself as The Genie, and that's what Smith does. There are times where I feel he's holding back, but overall Smith is a great Genie.
Mena Massoud is a good Aladdin, playing both the charming and insecure sides of the character well, but he's just not the best actor in this film. Naomi Scott is a real standout as Jasmine, giving a real powerhouse performance. Marwan Kenzari is fine as Jafar. He's written differently with slightly altered motivations, but here he's not a very compelling villain. You can tell they wanted to give Jafar more of a backstory, but they didn't give it enough attention. Perhaps that's in part because his scene partner had his role significantly reduced. Alan Tudyk is *wasted* as Iago…like almost wasted as much as he was as the chicken in Moana. Iago's not a character here he's a plot device. Nasim Pedrad steals plenty of scenes as a new character, Dalia, Jasmine's lady-in-waiting.
The new arrangements of the classic songs are mostly fine. "Arabian Night" and "Prince Ali" are arguably the best. "Friend Like Me" doesn't quite reach the show-stopping level it should. Scott and Massoud crush "A Whole New World". Well, she does, but he helps a little. Jasmine also has a new song, "Speechless". Again, Naomi Scott is a great singer, but the song feels out of place. It's a far more contemporary piece compared to the original songs, and it's also put in a very awkward spot in the film.
Last thing I want to say is that I was very aware I was watching a movie. Let me explain. Never once could I lose myself to the narrative. All the sets, looked like sets. Parts of the film looked like they were shot on cramped soundstages. What was not real, be it a CGI effect or a green screen, was very apparent to me. Speaking of CGI, let's go back to the Genie. It's not nearly as horrific as it was originally shown to us. I mean, yes there are parts that venture into the Uncanny Valley, but other parts look fairly decent. I don't think they put Smith in a mo-cap suit like they did for Dan Stevens when he played The Beast a few years ago…but they probably should have instead of just going straight to CGI.
All entertainment is subjective, but Aladdin is a lackluster comparison to the animated original. I found myself bored most of the time watching it, like I was watching a mediocre stage-play or a Disney Channel Movie version of Aladdin. Now I know I'm coming from a slightly biased position, with Aladdin being one of my favorite films, and it's tied to many nostalgic, childhood memories. But you know, when you produce a remake, the original is the criteria you will be judged upon. However, from
the most objectively possible perspective I can give, as just a film itself and not a remake…it's still not great. It's uneven in its pacing, its characters and script are underdeveloped, and it fails to dazzle like a summer blockbuster should.
There I tried to be fair. Hell I'll be compassionate and say it's fine. It's fine. Truthfully I don't regret seeing it, and as much as I've talked it down, there's nothing outright bad with it. The cast is likable and they have good chemistry. The story works on a base level, the songs are nice, and there are some truly enjoyable moments (The comedy actually did get a few laughs out of me). It all just needed some more effort and energy. I don't regret seeing it. Obviously a lot of people are enjoying it out there, and you might too. Right now I'm not one of those people. I could see myself watching it again, but I don't think I'll be rushing back to the theater.
At the end of this review, I'm honestly not sure if I liked this or the Dumbo remake more.
But as far as I'm concerned we're 0 for 2 with the Disney remakes this year. Jon Favreau…please don't let me down with The Lion King…
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