Aladdin Review

It's been a rather emotional journey for me in getting to this point. Disney's 1992 "Aladdin" is a very beloved movie from my childhood. It's one that got watched almost on repeat at times thanks to myself and my other siblings. What's happened in the last five years to some current parents with "Frozen" was "Aladdin" in our household. When I did my big ranking of all the Disney animated films a few years back, "Aladdin" came in at No. 3 on that list and we'll talk more about the reasons why in a second, but nevertheless it was a very beloved part of my childhood that Disney has now decided to redo. Because why not? As crazy as it may seem, I was on board. Everything I had heard about the production made it seem like they were trying their hardest to be authentic with this film, both in terms of the casting choices as well as casting people who could sing and dance. Because of that, this seemed like a remake that could work as it sounded like it could be a grand spectacle. I became so confident in this that when I did my yearly preview, I put "Aladdin" in my list of movies I was excited for, whereas both "Dumbo" and "The Lion King" were solidly in the maybe section. "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" would've been in the bad had I known it was going to come out this year.

Things change when you see trailers, though. At the beginning of the year, all we'd seen from "Aladdin" was that initial teaser that really was just an announcement of the movie. February is where the whirlwind of emotions began as they showed that minute-long "special look" trailer where Blue Will Smith was first shown. That was a thing of nightmares for me and suddenly I became horrified that this whole thing was going to be an epic disaster. Then after letting my simmer on that for too long, the actual official trailer came out and my first reaction was, "Why didn't you lead with this?" Because that made the movie look good again. I didn't want to go back to being excited, but I didn't feel like being a Grinch about, either. I was left in a state of confusion. And said confusion continued till this week. Twitter reaction came out and everyone there seemed pleasantly surprised. Official reviews dropped Wednesday morning and critics were mostly split, leaning slightly positive as the movie is still teetering on that 60 percent mark. I listened to reviews and there were a lot of people with a lot of legit complaints. Dampening my spirit even more was the fact that I couldn't get anyone to come to the theater with me, so I wandered in alone and sat all by myself.

And that's when Disney just hit me with a magical spell that completely overcame me. I had every right to be negative. I knew what people were complaining about. I had no friends with me. And there's things about that animated movie that I knew was impossible for Disney to recapture, regardless of how hard they tried. But yet I was completely enchanted. The theater wasn't this miserable wasteland. It was a paradise. Right away I was captivated by this world they had created. I could see how hard they worked to bring Agrabah to life and for me all their hard work paid off. We immediately went into the city and I felt like they transported me into a live-action version of this city I had grown up loving. It felt more than just a cheap set they built or some sort of stage play that many have compared this to. It felt like a real city, with a great attention to detail that enhanced the experience. I'm talking about all the marts they set up. All of the extras at every corner. The design of the buildings and how they were all presented. Then when we jump into Aladdin and Jasmine out in the city, Aladdin as his normal self and Jasmine in disguise, things felt natural and perfect. There was no period of adjustment needed for me to get used to this place. I was ready to go right away.

There's no need for me to describe the plot of this thing. If you have no idea what the story of "Aladdin" is, then shame on you. Granted, I don't believe any of you exist. At least not when it comes to the audience of people actually reading this review. But if you do, I'm not going to talk you by the hand and guide you through this. We're going to jump right in. Holding this whole thing up is Mena Messoud and Naomi Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine. I don't know what the exact process was in finding these two, but it was inspired casting choice in both cases. I commend them for not going for the Emma Watsons of the world in terms of casting choice, but rather digging deep to find people who fit the roles best. Mena Messoud was in Amazon's recent reboot of "Jack Ryan" while Naomi Scott was the Pink Ranger in the 2017 "Power Rangers" remake. But that's kinda it for both of them when it comes to recognizable roles. They're certainly not selling this on their individual star power, but rather are finding people who fit and are turning them into stars because I think both of them perfectly embody their respective characters, which is absolutely essential when you're making an "Aladdin" movie. Without them, this doesn't work.

Starting off with Mena, he's excellent when you put him in the role of this slippery street person. It's obvious he doesn't like where he is in life, but he's good at it. When we dive into our "One Jump" sequence, you can tell he's having a lot of fun. Because of that, there's a solid likability to him, but also a somber sadness that life hasn't presented him with more. Yet when he was true to what he was, he was able to connect the best with Jasmine because he was being himself and he felt comfortable. That's why I actually like the spin of him being quite uncomfortable as Prince Ali. After he learns this girl was secretly the princess and not the princess's handmaiden, he loses all his confidence, then wishes Genie to make him a prince. In the animated "Aladdin," Aladdin is extremely confident as Prince Ali as if he had done this whole prince thing his whole life. But that doesn't fit with this Aladdin and I like that. It goes a long way in teaching people to be true to themselves. When Aladdin is trying to be someone who he's not, Jasmine just doesn't bite because that's not the person she fell for at the beginning of the movie. It's when Aladdin goes back to being crazy and spontaneous, like flying around on a magic carpet, that he's able to win her over again.

Speaking of Jasmine, yeah Naomi Scott is the star of this movie. I felt that was going to be the case after listening to the soundtrack Tuesday night and I was right. Naomi is absolutely gorgeous and is thus perfect in looking like a princess, but she also does a great job of portraying someone who feels a strong level of discomfort at the role she's been thrown into and is thus at her best when she's in disguise with Aladdin. At the same time, though, being out in the city is where she starts to gain a strong, pure love for the people of her city, thus you immediately buy into the idea that she's the one who's going to eventually run the show as the leader of Agrabah. In terms of Disney princesses holding up to modern scrutiny, Disney's animated Jasmine is one who I think holds up pretty well. She's no damsel in distress by any means, nor is she one who completely relies on a prince to sweep her off her feet. "Standing around deciding my future? I am not a prize to be won!" That's a classic line right there in the 1992 film that shows how strong of a character she is. I really love how Disney took that and ran with it in 2019. I think Guy Ritchie and co. have created a very strong female character who has the potential to be very empowering towards young girls.

Granted, as an adult, white male myself, I'm not in the exact position to be declaring this. I think said statement will mean more coming from a female, but I have sneaking suspicion that this is a sentiment that will be shared. Because, yeah, this movie does go in slightly different directions. It's not just a carbon copy of the animated movie. There's more development of Aladdin and Jasmine's relationship towards the beginning and a whole heck of a lot more for Jasmine to do in the movie. Yes, Aladdin still plays a key role in stopping Jafar and saving Agrabah. He doesn't get sidelined by any means. But they don't throw Jasmine in a giant hourglass or handcuffed in slave girl outfit to Jafar. They give her a whole lot to do, to the point where it's almost her story more than Aladdin's. At the very least, they're on equal grounds here and I think that's one of the major things that separates this movie from the animated film, helping it to stand on its own as a great romance story with two people coming together after growing up in very different circumstances. It's your classic Romeo and Juliette story, but executed quite well, especially with how powerful of a female character Jasmine is and how well the two of them work together to propel the story forward.

Speaking of the movie standing on its own from the original, this is where we need to discuss the elephant in the room. And no, I'm not speaking about Abu, who is thankfully only an elephant for the parade sequence and is quickly back to being a monkey afterwards. But no, I'm talking about Will Smith as Genie. When it comes to the animated film, I've always loved Aladdin and Jasmine's story arc. I liked the fun and goofy nature of the film as well as the great spectacle with all the musical numbers. But what elevates the movie to being my No. 3 Disney animated film is the performance of Robin Williams as Genie. Not only is he energetic and fun, but the movie is very much a reflection of Robin Williams' life. On the outside, he's this extremely energetic human being who is perfect at entertaining everyone around him, but deep down inside he had a lot of demons, which ultimately led him to taking his own life. In reflection of that, Genie was also a super entertaining character, but when Aladdin asked him what he wanted, it gets emotional as you can tell he's hiding a lot of depressing feelings about being trapped as a Genie. Connect the dots between the two and it gets extremely emotional when you rewatch the sequence of Aladdin letting Genie go free.

How in the frack do you attempt to replicate that in the live-action film? No matter how good of a job you do with the movie, there is absolutely no way you can repeat that because there's only one Robin Williams. With his Genie being deeply connected to his personal life, it's an impossible feat to duplicate it. So what do you do? Well, the answer is that you go in a completely new direction. You give the reigns to Will Smith and tell him to be Will Smith. And that's why his Genie works. Yeah, Blue Will Smith is kinda weird, but you get used that look. And even if you don't, he spends most of his time disguised as a normal human being as to blend into Agrabah. In both forms, he feels relaxed and confident. Will Smith is not trying to be Robin Williams. He's being Will Smith. The Will Smith we all loved in the 90's and early 2000's. He's the Fresh Prince. He's the movie star we loved from the likes of "Independence Day" and "Men in Black." He's the dating expert from "Hitch." And his story arc in this "Aladdin" is not a carbon copy of the animated movie. It's very much true to Will Smith and thus very different. Because of this, this is the best we've seen Will Smith in years. He's going to make the whole internet, myself included, eat their words after we turned him into a meme.

So yeah, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie are the main three characters that this movie needed to nail in order for this movie to work. In each case, the new character is able to stand in his or her own while also doing justice to the original animated film. Together they power this movie forward into a very fun and delightful film. The other elements around them? I already talked about the design and authenticity. I spoke in length about the music itself on my Facebook. I'll add here that, even though I'm still not a huge fan of Will Smith's singing, context helps a ton as "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" are great sequences that help disguise the subpar vocals. The other songs are great. "One Jump" is a fun sequence. "A Whole New World" melts your heart. The new song "Speechless" is gorgeous and I think should get nominated for best original song. That's all I need to say about the music here. Jasmine's dad as Sultan is quite different, bit he fits well. And I was totally fine with Jafar. He has a snake-like menace to him that makes him manipulative and sinister. Much different than him being an old, creepy man trying to seduce a much younger Jasmine. But for the context of this new movie, I think it works well and probably fits better into 2019 than the animated Jafar would've.

If I had to sit and think of negatives, I think there are some things that are thrown in more out of obligation than anything else. And even though the movie is more than 30 minutes longer than the animated film, it felt a lot more rushed, this because they spent a lot more time developing the characters and story in the first two acts. This after they montaged through the typical opening to "Aladdin" with a longer version of "Arabian Nights." What they ended up sacrificing was most of Jafar's evil plan. Instead of him terrorizing all of Agrabah for the majority of the third act, it was more of a tiny, in-palace scuffle, which kinda took a bit of emotional weight out of the ending. But even those complaints are more nitpicks than serious issues I had. Given that this is more than just a carbon copy of the original, I think it has a decent chance of standing on its own as a solid companion piece to the original instead of feeling like a cheap cash grab. On Memorial Day weekend, if you have a desire to take the family out to a movie, this is an excellent as all of the kids in the audience seemed to be loving themselves. My theater even gave it a nice round of applause when the credits started rolling. So if you're on the fence here, I'd say give it a chance. My grade for "Aladdin" is a solid 8/10.