Kenzari tries to create something closer to an antihero than a traditional bad guy, and although it’s ultimately more of a riff or a vibe than a strong characterization (the writing lets him down, as it does every character), he’s genuinely scary in the second half.
ALADIN FILM 2019 MOVIE
(The motivation for the song, though, is much more organic, and might’ve felt sincere and powerful rather than opportunistic had the movie built to it, or better yet, centered the story on her.) Marwan Kenzari’s performance as the treacherous vizier Jafar departs most strikingly from the original film.
Ditto Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, who has a fierce dignity and can’t help it that her big original number-“ Speechless,” a song about the silencing of women by the patriarchy, written by two men, “ La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen” composers Pasek & Paul-feels wedged into the movie like a doorstop. Massoud has a deadpan comic energy that shines whenever he’s not required to simply re-enact his animated counterpart’s iconic moments. Smith’s co-stars run into the same problem.
They just sort of hang there, feeling disconnected from the movie’s reason for existing, which is to draw people into theaters with the promise of seeing the same thing they already knew they loved, but slightly different. When he isn’t being asked to re-enact most of the really good lines, jokes and situations from the 1992 version-which is probably 70% of his screentime-he puts his own stamp on the role.īut the opportunities are scarce, so when Smith does depart from the sacred text-mainly during emotional moments, and dialogue-dependent comedy scenes where Ritchie gets to show off his knack for smart-alecky banter-the moments don’t accumulate into a distinctive performance. Will Smith is the only big star in the cast, so it was probably inevitable that he’d be awarded the framing device (he’s a mariner telling the story of Aladdin to his two young children). This sticks to the beaten path so slavishly that when it departs from it, it’s as if the entire movie had momentarily escaped from bondage, like the genie from his lamp. And that’s a shame, because some of the most compelling (though not top-grossing) “live action” remakes of animated films to come out of the Disney studios recently have been ones that jumped off from slightly less beloved titles (like “ The Jungle Book,” “Pete’s Dragon,” and “ Maleficent,” which retells “Sleeping Beauty” from the witch’s point of view) and created works that felt more like companion pieces, even subversions, than remakes. Neither of these is permitted to seize the spotlight for very long, though. The other is about the princess, Jasmine ( Naomi Scott), who’s not merely a spirited feminist who enjoys disguising herself as a peasant and hanging with the commoners, but seems ready to agitate for representative democracy if nudged in the right direction.
One is the story of how the genie bonds with Aladdin ( Mena Massoud) and tries to secure his own freedom without breaking any genie/master rules. There are at least two potentially good and somewhat original takes struggling get out of this remake and assert themselves. This “Aladdin” is still the funny-sentimental-inspirational story of a poor “street rat” who comes into possession of a magic lamp and a magic carpet, summons a big blue genie, and embarks on a scheme to win the heart of a princess and stop an evil vizier from stealing the kingdom away from the heroine’s dad.
ALADIN FILM 2019 PLUS
Written by John August (“ Big Fish”) and rewritten by Ritchie, with music and songs by Alan Menken (and the late Howard Ashman) plus a couple of original tunes intended to qualify the film for Best Original Song Oscars, the film is unfortunately a perfect illustration of an observation by Josh Raby, summing up this era of both Disney features and computer animation: “Using CGI to turn expressive animated films into photoreal reboots feels like using a magic wand to make a toaster.”
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