A One Mann’s Movies review of “Aladdin” (2019).
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG.
I have dipped only periodically into the Disney live action remakes to this point: I’ve watched Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast, but not yet The Jungle Book or Dumbo. This evening with the choice of Aladdin or the latest Godzilla (which looks God-awful!) I chose the Disney offering.
The plot.
You all know the plot! “Street-rat” Aladdin (Mena Massoud) fancies Princess Jasmine of Agrabah (Naomi Scott). Her father, the sultan (Navid Negahban), only wants happiness for her. But the law says that she can only marry a prince.
Meanwhile, the sultan’s evil adviser Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) perceives Aladdin as the fabled “diamond in the rough”: the only one able to enter the ‘cave of wonders’ to retrieve an old lamp; a lamp that contains a genie who will grant the owner three wishes.
Aladdin’s life is about to get a whole lot more complicated!
The princess and the street rat. Naomi Scott impresses; Mena Massoud feels underpowered in the role. (Source: Disney).
A tough act to follow.
The biggest problem here is a 27-year old legacy from the late Robin Williams. In 1992 he embarked on 90 minutes of improvised riffing that the clever Disney animators worked around. How exactly does anyone follow that? Who exactly *could* follow that? (Suggestions in the comments box please….. the only name that springs to my mind is Jim Carrey… but that would need to be the Carrey from his early 90’s heyday).
As it is, Will Smith has a good crack as the genie, but only makes it to about 60% on the Robin-o-meter. He seems to be far less “street” in this film than his normal persona, perhaps being asked to tone it down by Disney? But this feels like a bad call. If he’d been allowed to ‘let-rip’ and ad lib, Williams-style, the film might have been a bit more dynamic.
Williams x 60%. Will Smith’s take on the big blue giant. (Source: Disney).
Underpowered.
Elsewhere in the acting stakes, both Mena Massoud and Marwen Kenzari both feel underpowered.
- Massoud can sing adequately for the lead, but lacks the screen presence to nail the role;
- Dutch actor and comedian Kenzari on the other hand is supposed to be utterly evil but comes across as mildly sarcastic with a side order of constipation. There are a whole world of actors out there who could go the whole “Billy Zane” on the role… but apparently overlooked.
In both cases – and in general for the whole production – the roles seem to have been largely chosen for their facial similarities to the animated characters rather than for their charisma or acting abilities.
Marwan Kenzari, not nearly evil enough as Jafar. (Source: Disney)
Girl power.
The biggest change in the script, other than minor tweaks for current taste and sensibilities – “barbaric” for example is gone! – is the respect given to Jasmine who gets a thoroughly “MeToo” makeover as the empowered force for good behind the throne. She even gets her own song – “Speechless” – which gets a curious “snippet” treatment initially but which comes good in fine style later on.
And Naomi Scott is a revelation in the part, setting the screen on fire as a sexy, sassy and wise Disney heroine. Scott firmly sets herself up here as “one to watch” in the future. She is far and away the best thing in the film.
Also good as Jasmine’s maid is Saturday Night Live regular Nasim Pedrad, who I spent most of the film thinking was Selma Hayak!
A whole new (new) world. Jasmine and Aladdin fly economy. (Source: Disney).
Suitable for younger kids?
With four grandkids under 5, I always view these films with an eye to “suitability”. In Aladdin, there are a few dodgy moments early on: ‘henchman number 5’ gets suddenly munched by the “blue tiger cave”; and Jafar – clearly to illustrate the depths to which either his ‘sarcasm’ or his ‘constipation’ can reach – tosses his hapless right-hand-man down a well to his (presumed) death. (“It’s OK Frankie – there was a BIIIIGGGG pillow at the bottom”). But other than that, and some possibly scary ‘giant-Jafar’ effects in the finale, the rest of the film is pretty innocuous.
My one reservation would be the 128 minute running time. It’s a bit flabby in places, and cutting 10 minutes out of the run-time would help youngsters with a less-than feature length attention span.
Having another jam session. The genie gives Aladdin some wooing advice. (Source: Disney).
Lock stock and four tassled carpet.
Guy Ritchie has the unenviable job of bringing it all in, and I was not disappointed by the effort. There is a visual flair on show that made it very watchable.
There are also some nice Disney in-jokes: the carpet builds the Disney castle opening titles (tinker bell arc and all!) and the genie conjures up “Fantasyland” on the map.
Disaster avoided.
Overall, I went into this expecting to hate it, but I didn’t. The songs lack the manic pizzazz of the original animated versions, but some of them still worked well: “Friend like Me” is particularly effective (I actually got to hear and understand the lyrics this time!). It’s a perfectly fun way to spend a couple of hours at the cinema, and for kids, particularly those without the reference of the Disney original, will probably love it.
Pretty accurate review, Bob. Most important comment from me is that you were sooooo right to skip Godzilla. It was awful.
Ha ha. Thanks Trev. #luckyescape.