Aladdin (2019) | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I am a huge fan of the original Aladdin film, as I am of most animated Disney movies. While I didn't exactly have the highest of expectations for the live-action remake, I did at least have the hopes that it would retain some of the magic that made the original so great.

The plot of the film directly follows the animated version. Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a boy who lives on the street and steals to survive. When he meets Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott), he falls for her instantly, but knows that someone like him could never be with someone who lives in the palace. However, when he accidentally rubs a magic lamp and becomes the genie's (Will Smith) master, everything changes. Can he pretend to be a prince long enough to win Jasmine's heart? Or will he find that he never had to pretend in the first place?

Now, I'm just gonna be flat-out honest - I didn't like the film as much as I wanted to. There were some things that I liked more than others, but overall... I'm not the biggest fan.

I'll start with the good.

First of all, the new song in the movie, 'Speechless' (sung by Naomi Scott) was amazing. It added to Jasmine's character, it was really meaningful both in and out of context, and she sang it amazingly well.

I also liked some of the changes they made from the original. For example (and I don't think this is a huge spoiler), in the original film, Jasmine was a strong female protagonist because she didn't want to marry someone that she didn't love. But in this film, Jasmine was a strong female protagonist because she herself wanted to be Sultan, and that was a welcome change, and added so much to her character.

There were also a few moments that did retain the magic of the original film. For example, the 'Whole New World' moment was really lovely. Again, it was sung really well, but also seeing the entirety of Agrabah was amazing. The CGI (for that section of the movie, at least) was great.

The movie was really well casted. Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Will Smith, Marwan Kenzari and Nasim Pedrad (to name a few) were really great in their roles, and they were what you'd expect from a live adaptation of the film. Particularly Mena Massoud, who was perfect as Aladdin in terms of looks and personality.

And then there was Will Smith's genie. I didn't like everything about him, but I really liked his banter, particularly with Aladdin (which was the best relationship in the film) but also as a character in and of himself. He was fun, hilarious and enjoyable to watch.

Now, for the things I didn't like.

For a start, I wasn't a huge fan of the singing, aside from that of Naomi Scott. Not only did they not retain the magic of the songs in the original, but they all sounded slightly flat, or bland. Even the huge numbers like 'Prince Ali' just felt really off and disappointing.

And then there were a lot of things about the plot that didn't work. Now, I have to admit that a lot of those things actually didn't work in the animated version either (such as no one recognising Aladdin just because he had a new outfit), but some of the other things didn't work for me. For example, the whole of Jafar's character. In the animated movie, he worked so well because he was scary, and ruthless, and a bit insane. This Jafar in comparison was really docile and... just okay. There was no way he could ever have won the battle, and for whatever reason, he was never that much of a threat.

Speaking of characters, I absolutely hated what they did with all the animal characters. Abu and Rajah weren't anything like they were in the original movie, but the biggest disappointment was Iago! They turned a really interesting animal character, with an actual personality and some of the funniest lines in the movie, to an actual parrot. Like literally an animal whose only purpose was to fly around and occasionally repeat some of the other character's lines. It was honestly just so disappointing, and something that could have been so easily rectified.
As a side note, they had the opportunity to cast the amazing Billy Magnussen and I feel like they really wasted him. He did great things with the limited screen time that he had, but if you're gonna cast an amazing actor/singer, it would be great to actually utilise him as much as possible. It kind of felt like anyone could have played that character.

Another thing that didn't really work when compared to the animated version, was the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine. Upon their first meeting in the animated version, there had already been enough in the movie of them separately for us as the audience to understand their characters before they come together. In this version, they come together basically at the beginning of the film. We don't know them, don't care about them when the film expects us to, and because of that, it feels like something is lost as the film continues.

The major thing is, the film relies too much on being a remake. It felt like Guy Richie (the director, who has made some amazing films, like 'Sherlock Holmes' and it's sequel, and 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) basically used the fact that people were familiar enough with the story and songs to not try too hard to make it different from/better than the original, and I for one would have liked to see a bit of differentiation.

Overall, it's an enjoyable enough film, but if you're a fan of the original, prepare to be a bit disappointed.

5.5/10

Lou