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Aladdin (2019)
After being thoroughly entertained by their live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, I was looking forward to seeing what Disney Studios would do with their live action remake of their 1992 instant classic Aladdin, a lavish and fast-paced musical fantasy where everything works except for the one thing that made the 1992 animated film so special.
Aladdin is a streetwise Arabian hustler and thief who meets and is immediately attracted to the beautiful Princess Jasmine, who is doing the Roman Holiday bit away from the castle and pretending to be her handmaiden Dalia. The Sultan, Jasmine's father, is being pressured by his second in command, the ruthless Jafar, to give up his throne and decides to take a shortcut to the throne by sending Aladdin to a magical cave filled with treasures to retrieve a very special lamp for him. Before he can get the lamp to Jafar, Aladdin rubs the lamp and out pops a big blue genie who has been in the lamp for about 10,000 years and offers Aladdin three wishes.
Director and co-screenwriter Guy Ritchie might seem an unusual choice to helm this gargantuan undertaking but he and co-screenwriter John August do an admirable job of establishing exposition without taking up too much running time while simultaneously flashing out certain characters and their motivations that were somewhat glossed over in the 1992 animated film. Jafar is a far more three dimensional character than he was in the first film. We actually understand the resentments behind his behavior. As expected, we also get a more enlightened heroine in Princess Jasmine...initially she appears to be bored and somewhat trapped in her princess clothes, but she is eventually revealed to be interested in taking over as Sultan, which provides a layer of strength to the character that I found most refreshing.
What just didn't work for me here is the character of the genie, so brilliantly brought to life by Disney animators and the late great Robin Williams in 1992. This consistently entertaining character whose unending morphing not only involved the story at hand but current pop culture as well, just doesn't work here. Even a crack visual effect team is never able to produce the kind of wonder and magic that the genie had in 1992 and I'm afraid that had way too much to do with the fact that this character worked the way it did because of the late Robin Williams' voicing of the character, which was one of a kind magic. Will Smith's genie is all over the place here...he's part streetwise thug, part gay fashion designer, part Yente the matchmaker, and we never really believe any of it.
What does work here is Guy Ritchie's meticulous direction which keeps the story moving and doesn't allow too many lulls in the action. His camera work is innovative and imaginative with especially effective use of the steady cam and some amusing fast-action shooting during "One Jump Head", Aladdin's opening number. I also enjoyed "Prince Ali", the lavish production number featuring some terrific choreography by Jamal Sims and the Princess' two versions of "Speechless", especially the reprise that is staged as sort of an inner monologue in Jasmine's mind. Also loved Aladdin and Jasmine's magic carpet ride to the Oscar winning "A Whole New World." Loved Aladdin's monkey sidekick, Abu, who I wasn't sure if he was real or CGI and I think that was the intention. Iago's transformation from Jafar's comic relief to a winged monster in the climax was genuinely terrifying.
Mena Massoud gives a real movie star performance in the title role and creates mad chemistry with Naomi Scott's Jasmine. Marwan Kenzari's quietly underplayed Jafar was a master acting class and I also loved former SNL player Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, but even with all the technical help he receives, Will Smith prevents this film from being what it should have been.
After being thoroughly entertained by their live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, I was looking forward to seeing what Disney Studios would do with their live action remake of their 1992 instant classic Aladdin, a lavish and fast-paced musical fantasy where everything works except for the one thing that made the 1992 animated film so special.
Aladdin is a streetwise Arabian hustler and thief who meets and is immediately attracted to the beautiful Princess Jasmine, who is doing the Roman Holiday bit away from the castle and pretending to be her handmaiden Dalia. The Sultan, Jasmine's father, is being pressured by his second in command, the ruthless Jafar, to give up his throne and decides to take a shortcut to the throne by sending Aladdin to a magical cave filled with treasures to retrieve a very special lamp for him. Before he can get the lamp to Jafar, Aladdin rubs the lamp and out pops a big blue genie who has been in the lamp for about 10,000 years and offers Aladdin three wishes.
Director and co-screenwriter Guy Ritchie might seem an unusual choice to helm this gargantuan undertaking but he and co-screenwriter John August do an admirable job of establishing exposition without taking up too much running time while simultaneously flashing out certain characters and their motivations that were somewhat glossed over in the 1992 animated film. Jafar is a far more three dimensional character than he was in the first film. We actually understand the resentments behind his behavior. As expected, we also get a more enlightened heroine in Princess Jasmine...initially she appears to be bored and somewhat trapped in her princess clothes, but she is eventually revealed to be interested in taking over as Sultan, which provides a layer of strength to the character that I found most refreshing.
What just didn't work for me here is the character of the genie, so brilliantly brought to life by Disney animators and the late great Robin Williams in 1992. This consistently entertaining character whose unending morphing not only involved the story at hand but current pop culture as well, just doesn't work here. Even a crack visual effect team is never able to produce the kind of wonder and magic that the genie had in 1992 and I'm afraid that had way too much to do with the fact that this character worked the way it did because of the late Robin Williams' voicing of the character, which was one of a kind magic. Will Smith's genie is all over the place here...he's part streetwise thug, part gay fashion designer, part Yente the matchmaker, and we never really believe any of it.
What does work here is Guy Ritchie's meticulous direction which keeps the story moving and doesn't allow too many lulls in the action. His camera work is innovative and imaginative with especially effective use of the steady cam and some amusing fast-action shooting during "One Jump Head", Aladdin's opening number. I also enjoyed "Prince Ali", the lavish production number featuring some terrific choreography by Jamal Sims and the Princess' two versions of "Speechless", especially the reprise that is staged as sort of an inner monologue in Jasmine's mind. Also loved Aladdin and Jasmine's magic carpet ride to the Oscar winning "A Whole New World." Loved Aladdin's monkey sidekick, Abu, who I wasn't sure if he was real or CGI and I think that was the intention. Iago's transformation from Jafar's comic relief to a winged monster in the climax was genuinely terrifying.
Mena Massoud gives a real movie star performance in the title role and creates mad chemistry with Naomi Scott's Jasmine. Marwan Kenzari's quietly underplayed Jafar was a master acting class and I also loved former SNL player Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, but even with all the technical help he receives, Will Smith prevents this film from being what it should have been.