Aladdin review

ALADDIN:

LIVE-ACTION DISNEY REMAKE LACKS THE ORIGINAL’S MAGIC!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

Revisited Score: ** 1/2 out of 4

DISNEY

(From left to right) Rajah, Princess Jasmine, Abu, Aladdin, Genie, Jafar, and Iago in Aladdin (2019)

            The tale of the friendship between a street rat and an all-powerful genie comes to life in Aladdin, the latest of Disney’s live-action remakes and retelling of the 1992 animated classic of the same name. Aladdin has always been one of my favorite Disney films growing up with its colorful and vibrant animation, blend of edge-or-your-seat adventure and a sweet love story, unforgettable songs and musical numbers, and of course the irreplaceable Robin Williams as the voice of the fourth-wall breaking, pop-culture referencing Genie, alongside The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King it’s about as perfect an animated Disney film can get.

            Naturally, because Disney has run of ideas for live-action films aside from remaking their animated movies but erasing the outlines, it was only a matter of time before Aladdin would get its turn. I guess it makes sense since the original was a huge hit when it came out in 1992 and both kids and adults continue to watch it on home media to this very day.

            Now we have this live-action version of Aladdin directed by Guy Ritchie (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2) and featuring Will Smith (Independence Day, Men in Black trilogy, The Pursuit of Happyness) as the Genie. For the most part I’ve been completely indifferent to these live-action Disney remakes, I don’t love them, but I don’t hate them either and some are better than others.

While Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent, and Dumbo (2019) are considered weaker attempts, I never hugely disliked a live-action Disney remake…*sigh* until now. Aladdin (2019) while visually impressive and most of the actors are giving it their all, never captures the same magic and kinetic energy as its animated predecessor and looks more like a big-budget stage show than an actual movie…in fact I saw the stage musical version of Aladdin at Disney California Adventure a while back and it was still more lively than this movie. 

            The film takes place in the kingdom of Agrabah where a humble street rat named Aladdin (Mena Massoud-Open Heart, Jack Ryan, Run This Town) meets the beautiful but feisty Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott-Terra Nova, Power Rangers (2017), Charlie’s Angels (2019)) and immediately fall in love with each other. However, the catch is Jasmine can only marry a prince and as kind-hearted as he is, Aladdin is definitely no prince. 

            Meanwhile, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari-Wolf, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), The Angel) the nefarious sorcerer and royal vizier of Agrabah alongside his parrot Iago (voiced by Alan Tudyk-Wreck-It Ralph/Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is sick of being “second best” to The Sultan (Navid Negahban-Brothers, American Sniper, 12 Strong) and recruits Aladdin and his pet monkey Abu (voice reprised by Frank Welker) to venture into the Cave of Wonders and bring him the Magic Lamp that lies within.

            Aladdin indeed finds the lamp and frees and befriends the all-powerful Genie (Smith) as well as a Magic Carpet and is given three wishes. Since Jasmine can only marry a prince, Aladdin wishes to become a prince to win her heart and the Genie transforms him into Prince Ali of Ababwa. 

            One Magic Carpet ride later through “A Whole New World” Aladdin’s wish seems to be paying off, but Jafar has sinister plans to steal the lamp and use the Genie’s power to rule over Agrabah. It’s up to Aladdin to stop Jafar, save the kingdom, and learn the important lesson that maybe it’s what’s on the inside that matters to Jasmine rather than royal power. 

            The film also stars Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live, New Girl, Despicable Me 2) as Dalia, Billy Magnussen (Into the Woods, Ingrid Goes West, Game Night) as Prince Anders, and Numan Acar (Rosewater, 12 Strong, Spider-Man: Far From Home) as Hakim.

            Overall, Aladdin (2019) is a perfect example of a live-action Disney remake that may have a basic understanding of its source material but not the soul or passion of its predecessor. It isn’t the worst thing Disney ever made but it feels like they took the script of the original Aladdin and tried to “Trim the Fat” so they could do a paint by numbers remake in live-action. 

            This version skips over some key scenes from the original and switches things around in its story, the film starts with Jasmine hiding in the marketplace and meeting Aladdin for no reason outside of Disney executives assuming everyone in the theater has seen the original, so we don’t need to establish anything, also Jasmine is now escaping from the guards with Aladdin during the One Jump Ahead number. What happened to the conversation between Jasmine and the Sultan in the garden? Why does the law that she must be married to a prince feel like a much bigger deal in the animated version than in this? I swear, they wait until the very end of the movie to even mention it.

            Most of the Alan Menken and Tim Rice songs are performed well in the movie except for a MAJOR butchering of the Prince Ali sequence. Going back to the original, Prince Ali was a big, energetic spectacle of a musical number with vibrant colors and imagination around leaping off the screen similar to Step in Time from Mary Poppins, this one however is a less than impressive street parade with Mena Massoud and Will Smith waving and looking cool, talk about a serious misfire Disney, don’t do this to Circle of Life in The Lion King I beg you.

            What keeps Aladdin (2019) from being a disastrous trainwreck are the performances by Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine. Massoud eerily looks and sounds exactly like the animated Aladdin and unlike the original film where the Genie was technically the star, Naomi Scott’s portrayal of Jasmine is what truly shines in this movie, she passionately captures the sass and spunk of the original while expanding her character a little further, she’s no Linda Larkin but Scott is a great Jasmine in her own way.

            Jafar and the Genie on the other hand are horribly miscast, the animated Jafar had this threatening presence to him in his appearance and voice. Nothing against the actor portraying him but the live-action Jafar isn’t just bad casting but it’s The Last Airbender Fire Lord bad, from the costume to lacking the deep voice, this isn’t Jafar this is some guy cosplaying as Jafar.

            I give Will Smith’s Genie credit that while he’s far from being a replacement for Robin Williams, he’s clearly trying his best to do his own take on the character. Still, as much as I love Will Smith he doesn’t have the same energy or improv experience as Williams and when I see him doing celebrity impressions or accents I don’t see the people he’s impersonating, I see Will Smith being Will Smith, and painting his face blue is pretty nightmare-fueled. 

            Aladdin (2019) may entertain your kids for two hours but compared to its far-superior animated predecessor, there is very little in this retelling for adults or people nostalgic for the original. A Whole New World this ain’t, sorry Disney better luck next time with The Lion King.