Since it was announced, I have been a bit on the fence about my desire to see the live action version of “Aladdin”. On one hand, I don’t necessarily see the necessity to remake all the Disney animated classics into live action movies. On the other hand, I really liked “Aladdin” and Will Smith is one of my favorite actors. Ultimately, I ended up seeing the movie in theaters...because of course I did.
Like the animated movie, the movie is based on the Middle Eastern folk tale ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ (aka ‘Arabian Nights’). The story follows a poor street urchin named Aladdin who ends up meeting his kingdom’s Princess, Jasmine, and falls in love with her. Aladdin flirts and charms the Princess until he is caught and forced to retrieve a magical lamp for the Sultan’s aid Jafar. Aladdin ends up keeping the lamp which contains a magical Genie who is able to grant him three wishes. Aladdin decides his first wish should be to become a Prince so he can court and marry Princess Jasmine. Aladdin and Jafar square off shortly afterwards and battle for the fate of the kingdom itself.
This live action version of “Aladdin” received mixed reviews from critics but how did I think it faired? Well, I really enjoyed it although the film wasn’t without some flaws. The biggest problem with the film was that the first act of the movie was a bit clunky. Part of this was due to director Guy Ritchie awkwardly shooting a few of the opening musical numbers. The actors seemed nervous and a bit out of their element in the first act and it just didn’t quite click until Will Smith entered the film and then a sense of comfort came over the film and the film improved drastically.
On the subject of Will Smith and the cast. I guess it is impossible not to compare Will Smith’s Genie with the legendary Robin Williams’ take on the Genie. Well, all I can say is Will Smith did a great job of making the character his own and if you can’t see anyone but Robin Williams as the Genie (which I understand), this movie is never going to work for you. My advice would be to have an open mind and give Will Smith a chance. As already stated above, Mena Massoud as Aladdin was a bit awkward at the beginning but when paired with Will Smith, he became very charismatic and really started to own the role. Naomi Scott from “Power Rangers” and “Terra Nova” plays Princess Jasmine very well. The only real let down was Marwan Kenzari as Jafar (although it was more of a script issue as opposed to an acting issue). Kenzari wasn’t terrible but I wish Jafar was more menacing in the script.
While I didn’t love some of Guy Ritchie’s direction in the first act, there were several touches he added to the film that I enjoyed. I thought he did a really good job allowing his cast to play the roles to their strengths instead of trying to carbon copy the animated film. Ritchie also gave the film a bit of a Bollywood flair to it that I very much enjoyed.
After all is said and done, this “Aladdin” film serves as a fine live action companion to the animated film. While I am not sure why Disney feels it is necessary to turn all their animated classics into big budget live action fairs, the results have been fairly well so far. You can’t top the Disney music either! The magic is still alive with this adaptation and I think the film is definitely worth a watch!
Grade: B
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