A diamond in the rough
Childhood, a sacred time that I for one value greatly, some fantastic memories. If you’re the same age as me, try and take a guess, you spent a lot of your time watching Disney animated films on VHS. You either got other films from the video store or you were lucky enough to record them with your VCR. I still have my prized Disney VHS collection, one that does include Aladdin with the cool original cover art. Here’s the problem we now face, Disney are messing with their own magic and for Beauty and the Beast I believe the magic was lost big time, at least for me it was. So, how will their live-action version of Aladdin go?
Holy Arabian nights, make way for Prince Ali! How did this film end up being great?!? After all of the judgement the film had leading up to its release and with some choices that had to be very careful indeed the film somehow pulls off a bit of a miracle. Let us begin with Will Smith since that is most likely why you’re here, right? You want to see how he looks when he juggles his head as a weird blue version of himself.
This is one of Will Smith’s best films. It is one of his performances and shows off some of his many talents. You’re still here? Well, I truly believe that Robin Williams would’ve loved Will Smith’s interpretation of the genie. Its big shoes to fill, such a beloved and crucial character with such a creative fair. Will Smith doesn’t copy Robin Williams but rather put’s his own spin on the character. Will Smith is known for his music and attitude and it is incorporated into his Genie. The genie bounces around with the more hip hop version of Genie’s famous songs.
Friend Like Me has a new twist on it whilst also having some reference to Robin Williams’ original version which is how this new version should be, and how the whole film is. The film feels different enough to the animated original that Robin Williams’ version of the Genie would most likely feel out of place and that plays well for Will Smith and his version. The genie is even given greater character development which felt forced at first but over the course of the film, it felt needed.
Will Smith’s Genie isn’t all I should be focusing on because I have to say that Mena Massoud (Aladdin) and Naomi Scott (Jasmine) are fantastic as their characters. Furthermore, their on-screen chemistry is really well created and moulded. Their on-screen chemistry even shines through some of the film’s more cheesy and bland moments. These moments are very few but can break the film’s magical feeling. Their performances are great with the addition of Jasmine’s handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad) who stands out with some comedy that I found could’ve been super risky but just worked.
Massoud and Scott’s singing and performances give the film back the marks it loses for those moments though. Their rendition of A Whole New World is magical and Jasmine’s new songs are surprisingly memorable, I find that usually songs added in feel forced but Scott’s performance is that good that the songs work.
After seeing the live action version of Beauty and the Beast I couldn’t listen to the music the same way ever again. Its a ridiculous form of heartbreak. Aladdin, however, I’ve wanted to listen to the soundtrack since I saw it, and yes I mean the new soundtrack! The remade songs have a new and really impactful feel, bringing forth your nostalgia from deep down whilst also remaining relevant to today’s music scene.
It’s not all great news, unfortunately. There are aspects of the film that don’t work, some of the CGI around Agrabah isn’t spectacular. It is better than Beauty and the Beast’s CGI so they’ve made improvements? There are one or two moments where you can see they’re just running in a studio and the magic vanishes but the extra’s and set design are colourful enough to distract you if you’re not looking out for it. There is also one transition between the city and the desert which looked more like the intro to Game of Thrones then an actual building.
Jafar, who is younger in this version, is very well played by Marwan Kenzari and another surprisingly good aspect of the film. He is crucial to the film’s plot which, unlike other Disney live-action remakes, doesn’t drift too far from its source material or try to adapt on it. The film suffers from some usual bad guy makes a bad decision to further the plot however characters do feel in actual danger.
One jump ahead, Aladdin is a giant leap forward for Disney’s live-action remakes. Previously they felt forced but Aladdin manages to retain most of its magic whilst also improving on the original’s faults. Great performances, acting and singing help to create a real Agrabah, even if it’s mainly clearly CGI. Director Guy Ritchie has pulled off a miracle for Disney and made the film truly a diamond in the rough (the rough being Disney’s other remakes….). The magic remains if you let it and you just enjoy the new version of these Arabian nights.