Disney’s ever-expanding line of live-action remakes of their
animated classics continues with one based on their 1992 release, Aladdin. The original Aladdin was very much another big
success for Walt Disney Animation during their big Renaissance period in the ’90s.
It was the second film of the era to be directed by the duo of Ron Clements and
John Musker following The Little Mermaid,
AKA the film that officially launched the Renaissance in 1989. And upon its
release, Aladdin became the first
animated film to gross over $500 million worldwide, effectively making it the
highest-grossing film of the year and the studio’s highest-grossing film to
date until The Lion King (which will
get its own remake later this summer) surpassed it just two years later. It won
two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for ‘A Whole New
World’, which also notably became the first (and, to date, only) Disney song to
win the Grammy Award for Best Song of the Year. But, of course, for those who
grew up with this classic, arguably its most definitive highlight is Robin
Williams’ legendary turn as the friendly, pop-cultural savvy Genie, which won
him a Special Achievement award at that year’s Golden Globes ceremony. With all
this in mind, this new version of Aladdin
has arguably faced some of the toughest expectations that any live-action
Disney remake has faced so far, especially after it had to deal with a bunch of
controversies during its production that ranged from casting decisions to
poorly-received bits of marketing. However, it is now upon us, with veteran
filmmaker Guy Ritchie behind the camera and Will Smith taking on the difficult
task of following in the footsteps of Robin Williams, and the end result is a
film that may not surpass the original but is still a fun time to be had as a
retelling of the story of the ‘Diamond in the Rough’.
In the bustling streets of the desert kingdom Agrabah, a
charismatic street rat named Aladdin (Mena Massoud) spends every day scraping
around for food and staying out of trouble with his monkey sidekick, Abu (voiced
by Frank Welker). On one fateful day, Aladdin helps a young woman out of a
troubling predicament and the two begin to hit it off. However, Aladdin soon
learns that this girl is none other than Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott), who
aspires to be Sultan but is being forced by law to marry a prince from one of
Agrabah’s neighboring kingdoms. Recognizing that he has no chance of being with
her, Aladdin agrees to an offer made to him by Jafar (Marwan Kenzari), the Royal
Vizier to the Sultan (Navid Negahban) who secretly aspires to take over the
kingdom. Per Jafar’s request, Aladdin enters the mythical Cave of Wonders to
retrieve a magic lamp that’s hidden inside. Once Aladdin finds it, he unleashes
the lamp’s sole occupant, an omnipotent Genie (Will Smith), who informs him
that he’s now been granted three wishes. Thus, with Genie’s help, Aladdin
becomes the majestic ‘Prince Ali Ababwa’ in his attempt to try and woo Jasmine.
But as Genie reminds him, it’s going to take a lot more than just his new
princely status to win her over. Plus, there’s also the pressing situation of having
to deal with Jafar’s sinister plot to use the Genie’s powers to become the next
Sultan of Agrabah.
On paper, Guy Ritchie may seem like an odd choice to be this
film’s director as most of his films tend to be either gritty crime dramas (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) or flashy period pieces (the Sherlock Holmes duology starring Robert
Downey Jr., Man from UNCLE). At the
same time, though, Ritchie’s also been known for his extremely stylish action
sequences, which is arguably quite fitting for a swashbuckling adventure flick
like Aladdin. Sure enough, this film’s
action sequences are solidly done, and Ritchie’s directorial flair also factors
well for the musical numbers. As was the case with the original film, Alan
Menken handles the score and all the classic songs that he created with Tim
Rice and the late Howard Ashman are featured once again, with La La Land/The Greatest Showman songwriters
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul providing some updated lyrics. Pasek and Paul also provide
the film with its sole new song, ‘Speechless’, a big solo for Jasmine that’s an
undisputed highlight of the soundtrack. As for the plot, it admittedly follows
the same beat as the remake of Beauty and
the Beast by not making any major narrative changes. It’s still the same
story of Aladdin wooing Jasmine with the help of Genie while also dealing with
the threat of Jafar; as such, the biggest changes compared to the original film
are primarily cosmetic ones (e.g. new characters, a different spin on Jasmine’s
character arc, etc.). Because of this, it does put this film in the same boat
as the Beauty and the Beast remake as
some will undoubtedly ask “Why remake this, then, if you’re just going to tell
the exact same story?”, and to that, I have no answer. At the very least, Guy
Ritchie does a solid job handling the source material and keeps everything at a
solid pace throughout.
As you can probably guess, easily one of the most talked
about aspects of this film was finding someone to play the Genie. It goes without
saying that Robin Williams’ version of the character from the animated film
still stands as one of the most beloved performances of his career. Thus,
finding someone to follow in his footsteps was undoubtedly one of the most
daunting tasks in recent cinematic history. As such, the way I see it is that
the only way to have a Genie that’s up to par with Williams’ version is to find
someone with a bona fide screen presence… Will Smith is one of those actors, and
sure enough, Smith does manage to hold his own against Williams’ Genie. Instead
of just copying Williams’ comedic style (e.g. his knack for impressions), he
implements his classic Fresh Prince persona
into the role, and ultimately, it does work very well for this version of the
Genie. Smith’s then backed by the film’s excellent lead duo of Mena Massoud and
Naomi Scott. As Aladdin, Massoud is properly charismatic, has phenomenal camaraderie
with Smith, and wonderful chemistry with Naomi Scott. Scott, meanwhile,
benefits greatly from the film providing some very satisfying updates to the
character of Jasmine by focusing more on her desire to be Sultan as exemplified
by her compassion for the kingdom of Agrabah. This especially comes into play
during a key scene in the finale, which generally gives her a lot more to do when
compared to her animated counterpart. It also helps that the film gives Jasmine
a new ally in her loyal handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad), who gets plenty of the
film’s best humorous moments. But if there is one weak link in this film, it is,
unfortunately, Jafar. Marwan Kenzari does his best with what he’s given, but
the film never really gives Jafar an opportunity to be as delightfully sinister
as he was in the animated film.
As noted in the intro, this Disney remake faced quite a bit
of controversy prior to its release when compared to others from its subgenre,
and not just because it was a remake of a Disney Renaissance film. Prior to
filming, controversy arose over certain casting choices, namely Naomi Scott as
Jasmine because she isn’t primarily Middle Eastern and Billy Magnussen as one
of Jasmine’s princely suitors AKA the sole white guy of the main cast (though,
to be clear, he’s only in it for about 3-5 minutes). Once filming began,
another scandal came into play over reports that white extras were being made
up to look Middle Eastern, which Disney claimed was only for some rare
instances of safety precautions. And then finally, once the marketing for the
film kicked in, let’s just say that the first reveal of Will Smith as Genie in
his traditional blue form didn’t exactly go over well with people on the
internet. Simply put, this film faced a lot of scrutiny going in, and yet, at
the end of the day, it’s another solid entry in this current line-up of Disney’s
live-action remakes. No, I’m not saying that it’s ‘better’ than the original,
but thanks to an enthusiastic trio of performances from Will Smith, Mena
Massoud, and Naomi Scott, this new take on Aladdin
is still a very entertaining romp. And really, that’s what I’ve been saying
all along with these recent Disney live-action remakes. For the most part, they’ve
been generally respectful takes on their source material, and their mere existence
doesn’t harm the legacy of their animated counterparts as much as some may
claim. After all, I’d argue that most Disney animated films are strong enough
to stand the test of time regardless of how dated some of them may be, and that
is very much the case with the original Aladdin.
And to its credit, the new Aladdin does
manage to be a fun, nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Rating: 5/5!
