Aladdin is a film that is a live action remake of an animated film, which is an adaptation on a fairytale from Arabian Nights.
We’re well into Disney’s big kick on live action adaptions with The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo etc. all getting the live action treatment as well. Aladdin was a personal favourite of mine growing up, so I certainly had my reservations about this. But it’s Hollywood, everything that you love will be chopped up and reproduced for the sweet dollar dollar bills.
Guy Ritchie is at it again. I can’t remember the last great Guy Ritchie movie I saw. I was a big fan of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. But his more recent offerings (i.e. King Arthur) have fallen short. Aladdin is a bit more toned down for one of his films, but his style is still conspicuous when it comes to the action sequences. He’s a fan of his slow downs and speed ups and sometimes it just doesn’t quite serve the film. His style seems to appear here as more of a stamp to remind people they’re watching a Guy Ritchie film, but otherwise it is a very simple, standard retelling of Aladdin that doesn’t deviate too greatly from the original.
Mena Massoud takes on the role of Aladdin, with Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Will Smith (in)famously as the Genie. It’s easy to look back at those early teasers of a blue Will Smith and laugh, but honestly, he’s the best part of the film. Mena Massoud doesn’t offer much. He looks and sounds the part as Aladdin, but he leaves no lasting mark on the character or film and comes off as quite flat in a few scenes. Will Smith is often able to carry the scenes they’re in and they do have some degree of comedic chemistry, but eventually Massoud has to do some scenes without the Genie and that’s when the film becomes considerably less memorable. Naomi Scott is perfectly fine though.
Despite Smith delivering a fun and charismatic performance, shades of Robin Williams are all over this film. It could just be a sign that his voice performance over 25-years ago was just that good that it’s had such a long lasting effect, but it often felt like I was watching Will Smith try to do Robin Williams rather than Will Smith try to do the Genie. Also, I know Will Smith’s a Grammy award winner and all, but his pipes weren’t made for banging out these big numbers. He’s a rapper, not a singer.
A lot of the songs were perfectly fine and fun to watch and listen to, but it still feels like you’re listening to a cover of the original rather than something fresh. Another thing is that the way a lot of the songs are shot and presented, it really feels like they were going for a music video style. One number that Naomi Scott does is called “Speechless”. It comes quite late in the film during a major peak in the storyline, but the song (which is quite good) has little bearing on the plot and it honestly felt like we had paused the movie to watch a separate music video. I would not be surprised in the slightest to see Speechless in music video form on MTV or something. Actually no I would be surprised to see music being played on MTV.
Visually, you’re getting the best of both worlds. The effects are great and everything is very bright, colourful and dazzling. But at times, the look of the film felt cheap. Especially so when we’re in doors, a lot of the sets felt just like that – sets. It felt I wasn’t looking at Agrabah so much as a sound stage.
Everything in the film is not quite enough. The sets aren’t quite good or real enough, the main star isn’t quite charismatic enough, Jaffar isn’t evil or intimidating enough, the gags aren’t quite funny enough. Everything feels like it’s falling just that little bit short of what you would hope. It’s not at all an outright failure, it’s still mostly fun and easy to watch and I’d recommend it if you’re trying to figure out something to watch with the family. But you’re probably just as well suited to pulling out 1992’s Aladdin instead.
Rating: ★★
Zero Stars 