ALADDIN (O-RVZ MOVIE REVIEW)

DIRECTOR

Guy Ritchie

CAST MEMBERS

Will Smith

Mena Massoud

Naomi Scott

Marwan Kenzari

Navid Negahban

WRITERS

John August (Screenplay)

Guy Ritchie (Screenplay)

GENRE

Adventure, Comedy, Family

MOVIE PLOT (from IMDB)

A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true. A live-adaptation of the Disney's Animated Classic movie "Aladdin" released in 1992.

REVIEW

This movie has been plagued with so many issues during the whole development. So many reactions that are more in lined on the negative side about the casting of Genie by Will Smith and its first official look when its first trailer dropped. Understandably so because that character is so iconic and it has been the stapled voice performance by none other than the late legend Robin Williams. No one could have been able to topped that performance but I will say this that Will Smith as the Genie on this iteration was one of the best thing that ever happened of this live-adaptation.

I really really love this live-adaptation of the classic Aladdin. Out of all the live-adaptation from all of the Disney's Classic animated movies, this one was really the best one so far. What you loved from the original movie, all those things are still there with some additional changes that freshens up the whole movie. Let's talk about the casting of our iconic characters. No one could have known that Will Smith would do a perfect job on this role by not only putting some honor to Robin Williams' previous performance but also putting a newer spin on the character that made me even loved the character more. He's the perfect balance of providing this crazy energetic performance from the original character yet also feels like a newer character and doesn't feel like his trying to copy some other performances. The casting of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine was also on point. They could have chosen any other known actors to play the part Aladdin but Mena Massoud really played it so well. Not only he looked the part but he was also as charismatic as Will Smith. For Princess Jasmine, Naomi Scott is Princess Jasmine! She looked the part so much and she provided another layer to that character. The character was a damsel-in-distress type from the original movie but the team and Naomi added more characterization to it and it perfectly fit to the entire movie's plot. About the pacing of it, if you have watched the original one then you kind-off knew what will be the flow of the overall storyline. However, if you have not watched the original yet then I would say that the pacing of this movie was okay. I didn't feel the slowness of its story progression but rather it kind of felt that its flow was naturally progressing as the story goes on. There are some entertaining and funny sequences as well so you really don't necessarily get bored watching the movie. Speaking of the songs, I was amazed of how good their performances were. Starting from the lively and colorful performances from "A Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" down to the lovely and serene performances from "A Whole New World". All of it were just as good and catchy as the original and also they added some new elements to it like mixing it with some upbeat tones from hip-hop and rap that were just perfectly mixed with the original songs. The production set from the movie is very colorful and bright. I would say that it really looks so good and stunning when you see the whole kingdom of Agrabah in a live-adaptation. It would have felt dry given that the whole setting sets in a sandy place yet due to some colorful structure designs and their costumes, it just feels so fantastical even more. My only complain from the movie is how they portrayed the iconic villain Jafar. No hate from the actor who played the character because his performance was good but I just really didn't feel the Jafar character that I knew from the original. I mean, all of the other characters really feels like from the original with some added changes to their character but Jafar seems like an out-of-place for me. His way too handsome and way too young as Jafar and his voice isn't as menacing as the original. There are some key moments from the original that didn't managed to be included to the remake but it didn't feel like a big of an issue for me.

OVERALL

I really dig this new live-adaptation. Aladdin was one of the favorite classic Disney animated movies and they have done some justice to it. There are some various changes from the original but it is still the same magical and fun adventure kind of a movie. The characters were on point except for Jafar and the songs are just as catchy with some new twists to it. I highly recommend this movie to be watched regardless if you have watched the original or not. If you have watched the original then great, there are so many nostalgic moments which you would be getting as you remember watching it as a little kid. If you have not watched it then you're still gonna have a good time because it is just so good and fun of a movie.