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Post by OdanUrr on May 25, 2019 12:04:20 GMT -6
Aladdin. Man, I love this film... the animated one. Why? Robin Fucking Williams. Oh, and the songs too, you can't deny Menken and Ashman (and Rice later, thanks Wikipedia!) did a fantastic job with the score and the lyrics (you can't get them out of your head!). There's the pop culture references too, dozens of them, but I think that's largely because of RFW and his inimitable comedic genius. Yes, the actors who play Aladdin and Jasmine are good too. And the animation! When Aladdin asks Jasmine if she trusts him, she gives him this look that screams, "Kid, I know who you are but I'll play along anyhow." Look, I'm a 90s kid so most of Disney's animated films have a special place in my heart, but I feel Aladdin stands on a league of its own... ... which is why trying to make a live-action adaptation felt ill-advised. The Genie (and the animation) sells the movie, and the Genie was Robin Williams, so who are you getting to replace him? O-kay, I guess. Does this mean Will Smith's playing a blue Hitch? That's exactly what he does, but, hey, the man's got charisma, can't deny that. Let's get a few things out of the way first... Is this movie better than the animated film? Nope. Williams' Genie is brought to life by the excellent animation whereas Smith's feels more contained, perhaps because they didn't want to overuse VFX, but the movie's also lacking in the pop culture references that made the original so unique. Can you imagine if Smith's Genie had pulled a landspeeder or a Bantha (since Disney owns Star Wars now) and commented, "Wrong universe" or something similar, when pondering Aladdin's means of transportation? Or if he'd played "Lawrence of Arabia" for inspiration on Aladdin's outfit? There's also the odd editing choices in some of the musical numbers. For instance, during the song "One Jump Ahead," some scenes play slower while others are sped up. It's a very jarring combination that feels definitely out of place. I get that you're trying to add something new to the live-action adaptation, but why mess with perfection? Is Will Smith's Genie better than Robin Williams'? No, he's not, but the nice thing is that Smith's not trying to replace, or even emulate, Williams. Smith's playing his own version of the Genie... who turns out to be Alex Hitchens, with some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Still, he's without a doubt the best character in the movie. I liked the way he introduced the "Arabian Nights" song, though I'm less convinced about some of the modifications he made to songs like "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali." These are absolutely minor modifications, mind you, but that's precisely why I question their presence. Is the movie good? Yeah, not great, but good. Mena Massoud (Aladdin) and Naomi Scott (Jasmine) are quite good in their roles. It also does a couple of things that the animated one didn't. Firstly, they introduce a new character, Dalia, Jasmine's handmaiden, as a love interest for the Genie. She was fine, although the movie spoils very early on how this story wraps up. Nevertheless, Guy Ritchie must think we're dumb 'cause he feels compelled to spell it out for us during the close of the third act. Secondly, they try to give Jasmine more agency in this film, similarly to what they did to Belle in the live-action adaptation. Here, Jasmine wants to be Sultan, but she can't because she's not a man. Personally, the only fault I find with her wanting to be Sultan is that she hasn't been out of the Palace since age 9 and knows little of her people. That's why I find it dubious when Aladdin tells her she should be Sultan. Really, kid? More agency also translates to more singing. I don't recall if Jasmine ever had solo songs in the original (I don't think so), but now she does. Unfortunately, the second time she sings "Speechless" the movie stops and we're transported to a music video. That was bad enough, but it also came at the expense of the only song Jafar ever sings in the animated version, his twisted version of "Prince Ali." Unfortunately, Jafar in the live-action movie wouldn't sing if his life depended on it. It's curious, animated Jafar is an evil caricature but it works, he takes delight in this role and performs as if on a stage. In trying to make him somewhat more believable (they don't put in that much effort to be honest), live-action Jafar feels somewhat lessened by it. I enjoyed that one scene where he kinda bonded with Aladdin, but that's about it. In the end, I think the movie would've benefited from someone with more screen presence like, say, Tom Hiddleston's Loki in the Thor movies, or Tim Curry's Richeliu in The Three Musketeers. What else? Abu works, but Iago doesn't. He could've been taken out of this movie with little consequence, what's a shame. A few pet peeves with the ending. I don't think they're spoilers, but I'll use the tags anyway: - When Genie gets freed, it is Aladdin who goes to hug him. It should've been the other way around.
- We get beaten over the head with the whole Genie-Dalia thing.
- The Sultan tells Jasmine she will become Sultan and that she can change the law to marry Aladdin. Okay, but why don't you change it while you're still Sultan?
- "A Whole New World" is used in the very last minutes of the ending, but it's not given time to breathe. It's as if someone told the director, "Look, we gotta wrap it up, Disney gave us exactly 40 seconds for this scene." Except they then proceed to spend another couple of minutes wrapping up the movie like Hitch but to "Friend Like Me"... and again it's sped up like during "One Jump Ahead."
Looking back on it, I would've unabashedly stolen the ending to Eddie Murphy's Going to America, where we're all led to believe the king will wed Akeem to some princess only to find it's actually Lisa. So, Aladdin walks away just like in the movie, and Jasmine resigns herself to marrying some prince ('cause her dad hasn't told her he'll make her Sultan). Cut to the marriage ceremony and have it play out like Prince Ali's earlier introduction, only better naturally. If I had to rate it, I'd say it's probably in the 7-8/10 range. The musical numbers are really good, although "Friend Like Me" slightly trumps "Prince Ali" for me, if only because of Aladdin dancing with Genie (and it's the closest we get to Robin William's Genie what with all the VFX).
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