Disney’s live-action remakes have led to mixed reviews at best. Looking to cash in on nostalgia, Disney decided to release perhaps their greatest films in a live action setting. If the goal is to make money, it’s working as most of the live-action remakes have crossed the $1 Billion mark. Does it mean they’ve all been great films? Well, we’ll get to that…
Disney+ doesn’t have every live-action remake available yet, so we’ll do these as they come out.
Before we delve into Aladdin, we need to reflect on where Disney was as a company a bit to understand the film’s significance. Disney had struggled through the 1980s. The Little Mermaid, released in 1989, made big money though, and the Disney Revolution began. The early 90s specifically had a “big 4” film slate that set the standard for every animation studio to this day. Aladdin is the 3rd of those films, proving itself by becoming the first animated film to cross $500 Million at the box office (a massive deal in 1992). Incredible animation, a strong story with memorable characters and songs proved to be an unstoppable combination for Disney. And it works here big time.
Aladdin wasn’t without controversy though. Famously, Robin Williams clashed with Disney over the promotional use of his character, The Genie. The film itself received numerous complaints of racism (best example, Arabian Nights having going through a lyric change). While we all likely remember Aladdin fondly, these issues are a part of the Aladdin story. You can mind much more information just searching both of these topics on Youtube.
The film itself is excellent. Biggest plus of course is Robin Williams voicing the Genie. Williams just goes absolutely bonkers here and it’s memorable and incredible. Seeing this film as a child I didn’t understand most if not all the references, but I thought they were funny. As an adult I understand most of them, and again they are funny. It’s that multi-dimensional humor given by one of the arguable greatest of all-times that makes the Genie perhaps Disney’s greatest character (an argument for another day). He almost overshadows the rest of a really good film, he’s that great.
Anyone who knows my Disney tastes know that Jafar is my favorite Disney villain. From the first moment he’s on-screen Jafar is presented as a dark, serious stoic man with a dangerous goal (“a dark man with a dark purpose”). But slowly throughout the film we start seeing some cracks in Jafar’s sanity. And boy, when obtains his goal we see how crazy and maniacal he really is (the entire reprise to “Prince Ali” is one of my favorite Disney songs in itself). He’s such a dishonest character and I love every moment he’s on screen, especially after he goes over the top. Jonathan Freeman’s voice is perfect for Jafar as well. As a bonus, Gilbert Gottfried somehow works as Iago an annoying parrot that acts as Jafar’s sidekick. I never necessarily found slapstick violence too funny, but somehow I find it hilarious when it happens to Iago. One more great thing about Jafar is that he doesn’t do any of the hard work at all for anything. Gazeem finds the other half of the Golden Scarab Beetle. Jafar doesn’t even entertain the idea of going into the Cave of Wonders himself at any point in time, sending someone else to do it. Hilariously, even when Jafar is searching for the diamond in the rough it’s Iago doing the literal busywork. Jafar has no redeemable qualities and it’s fantastic.
Scott Weinger’s Aladdin and Linda Larkin’s Jasmine are pretty good too, although definitely not as interesting as Genie or Jafar. While Aladdin gets a lot of story development overall about what a good person he is despite his situation and how being a prince and the lamp almost changes that, Jasmine’s development doesn’t go much past having a choice in who she marries (something that the live-action remake attempted to fix, to mixed results). Heck, we get many instances of Aladdin outsmarting everyone he comes across (including the Genie at one point). Jasmine doesn’t really get those moments, other than one excellent line (“when I am queen I will have the power to get rid of you [Jafar]”). Overall though they are both memorable and entertaining despite any limitations. And there’s definitely a chemistry that reveals itself during the early stages of the film and the “A Whole New World Sequence”.
Before I delve into what works and what doesn’t, I want to point out that the supporting characters are full of personality. The Sultan is played for laughs, but at the same time has his moments where he shows Jafar who’s boss. Abu, Aladdin’s monkey/elephant sidekick is basically the walking version of today’s “mood” meme. Magic Carpet is beautifully designed and full of personality despite not saying a word. One day just watch the film and keep your eyes on Carpet. All the little movements are fantastic.
I decided to go through the main and supporting characters first because the plot of Aladdin isn’t particularly interesting, but the way it’s told through these characters is what makes it work. The Sultan is trying to marry off Jasmine, but no princes chosen are even close to what Jasmine is hoping for. Jafar is The Sultan’s right-hand man, but he’s trying to obtain power for himself (first by finding the Genie, then later trying to manipulate the Sultan to allow him to marry Jasmine himself). Aladdin is the good natured but lowly street rat, but a lucky meeting with Jasmine (who ran away from the Palace) and the fact that Jafar found that he could get Genie’s lamp have thrust him into the mix of the story. Aladdin ends up with the lamp, but loses sight of himself which almost allows Jafar to accomplish all his goals. On the way Aladdin becomes great friends with the Genie and he and Jasmine fall in love. All very basic. But told in an incredible way.
I wouldn’t be a Disney movie without addressing the music. Luckily the music for the most part is amazing. “Arabian Nights” is an epic piece of music that starts the adventure. “One Jump Ahead” and “Prince Ali” are both a lot of fun. The two main event music pieces are “Friend Like Me” and “A Whole New World”. Robin Williams just goes all out for “Friend Like Me” and as I wrote earlier, it’s amazing. “A Whole New World” of course was one of THE iconic Disney themes until this very day. The animation and imagery for “A Whole New World” is still one of the best things Disney have ever created. As a bonus, while he doesn’t have his own song, Jafar’s rendition of “Prince Ali” is one of my favorite villain themes. Again, a lot of that is Jafar basking in all his glory.
One last thing I noticed from Aladdin is the use of items or imagery that lasted long from an iconic standpoint. The Palace itself, absolutely stunning. Genie’s Lamp of course falls into this category. As does Jafar’s snakstaff. Lastly, Jafar’s snake transformation proved to be an awesome representation of who Jafar is. It’s perfect.
Best Scene: I have to cheat and pick three. First, Aladdin’s attempted escape from the Cave of Wonders is visually striking, and Jafar betraying Aladdin is great as well. Second, the entire “A Whole New World Sequence”. Third: As I mentioned before, Jafar’s “Prince Ali” reprise. Just so so good.
Worst Scene: We make a whole big point about Aladdin outsmarting the Genie early on, but then the Genie has to make an exception for Aladdin’s 2nd wish (to save his life). Eh?
Personal Story: This is probably my third favorite Disney film (4th if we count Pixar). I hasn’t seen it in a while, but i was somewhat surprised how well it still holds up.
Final Thoughts: What can I say? There’s are a few reasons Disney made all that money in the 90s and this was one of the big ones. I can’t give it the full monty because the story itself again is merely okay and I do think Disney (and Pixar) has done better before and after.
Grade: A
We should quickly discuss the live-action remakes before we get into this. The first notable one is the Alice in Wonderland remake, released in 2010 (the Dalmations remakes were a lot earlier and I don’t think fall into what Disney is doing now. While visually stunning, the film suffered some serious story problems. The film also made tons of money, especially for 2010. Ever since, Disney has been churning out these live-action remakes and at this point the general feeling are that they range from good to okay, but that they are nostalgic money grabs from Disney. Does Aladdin fall into that trap? I would say no, but with an asterisk.
2019 Aladdin keeps the same story and structure from the 92 version, but it does insert some original ideas that work and some that don’t. The issue is they all could have worked and probably should have. This is an issue I’ll revisit at the end of the review.
Let’s talk about the characters. I do feel that for the most part, this is a well acted film, but some characters get overshadowed by others. i’m going to name Naomi Scott’s Jasmine first, because the story really becomes her’s as opposed to Mena Massoud’s Aladdin. Disney has looked to empower female characters as of late and I’mall for it. The major difference for Jasmine is that instead of just looking for love to marry, she’s looking to become the Sultan, with the love plot on the side but still here. She’s tired of being silenced by her father, by Jafar, or by anyone. Scott does a great job. It is Jasmine’s film and Scott owns it. I am also a fan of the new song “Speechless” (although we’ll get to the reprise). So far so good.
Will Smith is given the impossible task of following up Robin William’s Genie. Smith smartly changes it up from William’s routine, instead putting together a Hitch and Fresh Prince combination. It works really well! I found Smith to be excellent here. The only issue with the Genie is that he’s not always as visually impressive as his animated counterpart. Once again, we’ll get to that.
As I mentioned in the 92 review, Jafar is my favorite Disney villain. I have such a mixed feeling about Marwan Kenzari’s performance. For the most part it’s monotone and even boring, a far cry from the maniacal 92 version. The general consensus is that Kenzari was miscast, but I’m going to counter that. I feel he was given really bad direction because at times I see that 92 version in there. But yes, Jafar was very disappointing here and that’s a massive black flag here.
So notice I left Massoud’s Aladdin for last and well that’s because it felt like that’s what the writers did too. He has his moments, but he’s always overshadowed by anyone who’s sharing a scene with him, especially the Genie. And while perhaps it’s understandable that he’s overshadowed by Smith (I mean, the Genie overshadowed Aladdin in ’92 as well), he even gets overshadowed by Kenzari’s Jafar which really shouldn’t happen.
Side characters are a mixed bag as well. Carpet is still a lot of fun, but Abu pales in comparison to the 92 version. Iago (or Parrot, I don’t think he’s named here) is a darker, more sinister take on the character, and I really missed that slapstick and comedy that Gottfied’s version provided. The Sultan is also more serious and overall I think a plus, but I also missed the comedy provided by the 92 version as well. There’s a new character as well, Jasmine’s handmaiden named Dalia who’s a lot of fun and serves as a supporting opposite of the Genie.
We get a lot of changes with this. I’m going to go almost scene by scene now and hit on what’s different, what works and what doesn’t work.
Will Smith singing “Arabian Nights” is perhaps one of the most shockingly great moments I ever experienced in a movie theater…but the very ending presents the first concern. The Cave of Wonders is rather disappointing visually and Jafar responds to the failed attempt to enter with a mere headshake and deep breath. Far cry from the mood that was set in ’92’s opening. The film then presents some strange decisions pacing wise. We still get the bread stealing and subsequent giving of bread to the hungry children (well, it’s dates now but whatever), but the whole thing is rushed. This scene really told us who Aladdin was and what a nice person he was in ’92. Here it’s just here. Why is rushed? Because oddly we have Jasmine already roaming the streets of Agrabah, way earlier than expected. This felt like a video game that I glitched and then sequence broke. The “trust me” line is rushed too. We then get “One Jump Ahead” which is really oddly edited. The song sounds fine, although the editing is an absolute miss. For some reason Aladdin and Jasmine are moving in slow motion and then the next they are walking at what looks like 1.5x speed. So far after the greatness of Smith’s “Arabian Nights”, I wasn’t feeling this at all. We get a scene of Jafar (who looks awesome for a moment) also expressing his disappointment at the recruited “diamonds in the rough”. I guess it’s a fine introduction for Jafar, but still nothing special. We do get our first important plot point though that does work in this film, as Jafar explains his backstory as a prisoner. He specifically gets angry at being called second powerful or second in command. At this point, the film starts to tread back upward.
Aladdin showing Jasmine his home is next. Right here we miss how visually iconic the palace looked in ’92, but the scene is still fine. Jasmine pretending that she’s her handmaiden also seems fine, although it doesn’t really go anywhere. But even when Aladdin and Jasmine are relating to one another about how trapped they feel…it’s missing a certain magic. We then get the stuck up prince scene (Billy Magussen’s Prince Anders gets more screentime and a few laughs, but also feels like he should be in a different film). Abu steals an important piece of jewelry from Jasmine though, to which Jasmine expresses her disappointment. The timeline compared to the original is still weird, as Aladdin would have been captured at this point, but it doesn’t happen.
The film steps up though as we see Jafar and the Sultan discussing military alliances with the princes who are looking for Jasmine’s hand at marriage. This is an interesting twist that does give Jasmine a much stronger story than the original. I also like “Speechless” quite a bit here, Naomi Scott sings it really well. My only hang up is that Jasmine tells us she could be Sultan, but we never really see why. I would have loved to see her military reason or her presenting an idea that didn’t relate to her mother. But still this is a stronger arc than the original.
We get another strange change from the original as Iago tells Jafar that there’s a thief in the palace and perhaps he’s the diamond in the rough. As opposed to be captured in the original, Aladdin decided to meet “Dalia” in the palace. Jafar also doesn’t use the ring to determine Aladdin is a diamond in the rough. This is a huge miss for two reasons. One, Iago caught Aladdin instantly, so I mean how good could he be? Second, after his meeting with Jasmine and Dalia, Aladdin gets caught instantly. This was a tough sell. I appreciate the idea to form a stronger connection between Jasmine and Aladdin, but it didn’t feel strong enough to me to change all of this. The scene itself (where Dalia pretends to be Jasmine) is also cringworthy.
Aladdin is captured, to which he meets Jafar. A positive change: Jafar explaining to Aladdin that they are both similar, that he too was a thief at one time and he even proves it. This pays off much later in a wonderful way. But unfortunately the film disappoints in one of it’s first big set pieces. Inside the Cave of Wonders is a massive disappointment and it’s quite boring. Big let down for what was one of the coolest and most visually striking parts of the original film.
But here comes Will Smith to pick things up! “A Friend Like Me” delivers big time and I even prefer it to the original, which I don’t think is true for any other song in any remake (except one, but that’s for another time and for a different reason). We pretty much go hand in hand with the original now though “Prince Ali”, although that turns out to be a slight let down (but not bad). We are introduced to the idea of “genie magic” for why no one will recognize Aladdin. I get that was a bit of a plothole in the original, but this was a lame reason. I would say overall I was enjoying myself though.
We then get some horrid sequence with Aladdin sounding like an absolute idiot in front of Jasmine and some joke about yams. Also a statement about Aladdin buying Jasmine. Absolutely went too far trying to show that Aladdin “isn’t himself” as a prince. We do get an awesome dance sequence that’s new and the Genie also has an eye for Dalia, which may be unnecessary but it’s fun so I’m all for it. Genie is really pushing the whole Aladdin should be himself piece and it’s fine. Smith gets some hilarious lines in (Aladdin: “See, the Sultan does like me.” Genie: “Oh good, maybe you can be his wife.”)
Our next big moment is “A Whole New World” and unfortunately it’s also a letdown. It’s one of those occasions where the visuals don’t remotely match the original (not even close in this case). There are also some really small moments where the audience can figure out Jasmine is learning who Prince Ali really is (see the usage of an apple in the original). This is where I knew we weren’t getting to that level the original got to unfortunately.
An the final act…is merely ok. The issue is most of the scenes at this point is a standoff. It’s just Jafar threatening and saying stuff to the Sultan, Jasmine, Aladdin etc. We get a second version of “Speechless” which feels completely out of place this time (it’s not like they are telling her she can’t do anything…the big bad is being a villain and cheating his way to the top). We don’t get Jafar’s “Prince Ali” reprise which is just plain disappointment from me. Jafar never goes mad with power and as a result the film never gets to that next level. Jafar’s “Most Powerful Sorcerer” phase also completely misses (the most disappointingly delivered line is “if you won’t bow before a sultan, then you will cower before a sorcerer”). Instead of turning into a massive snake, he makes Iago a dragon to chase Jasmine and Aladdin. This doesn’t nearly have the same effect. Also, another huge plothole comes up. Jasmine is about to marry Jafar to protect her father and she steals the lamp. Why she didn’t…I don’t know…rub the lamp is a complete mystery to me. Anyway Jafar falls for the same trick in the original which is built up better here to be fair. Jasmine also is crowned Sultan, which is a fine ending to that arc. Still, there was a lot of potential for greatness here and most of it missed. What a shame.
Best Scene: It’s the entire “Friend Like Me” sequence. Shows Disney can make the live action musical scenes just as strong and powerful as the animated originals.
Worst Scene: I know some people liked it, but the entire jams joke had me shaking my head the entire time.
Personal Story: I had seen the Rotten Tomatoes score in the 50s so I wasn’t expecting much. But “Arabian Nights” led to the quickest 180 perhaps I ever had in cinema. Really didn’t see that coming from Will Smith.
Final Thoughts: Too many misses for greatness, but I liked some of the changes. This is still an enjoyable time. Changes to Jasmine’s arc are a plus, but changes to Jafar are a let down. Everything else your mileage probably varies. One more thing to think about that I mentioned earlier though. Disney had a huge 2019 with this being released two months before Lion King. I can’t help but think that if Aladdin, again one of the big four of the Disney Renaissance , had more time and focus given to it that we may have gotten some of that greatness. But I still find that despite some flaws this is a good and enjoyable film. And Disney made some money so I guess that’s all that really matters.
Grade: B
