There’s been a recent trend where Disney has been remaking several of their animated classics, for better or for worse. While live-action Disney remakes had been done before, what kick-started this latest trend was the 2014 film Maleficent. A loose remake of their Sleeping Beauty, the film was a reinterpretation focusing on the villain and making her sympathetic. That film was such a huge success that more live-action remakes started coming out, almost one per year. There was 2015’s Cinderella, 2016’s The Jungle Book, 2017’s Beauty and The Beast, and 2019’s Dumbo, with more coming soon. Though many have received mixed to positive reviews, they’ve all been massive successes at the box office. As with most remakes, many audiences aren’t fond of them, and some have gotten tired of them. Continuing this trend, we have the considerably divisive remake of the 1992 animated classic, Aladdin.
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In the far off land of Agrabah, street rat Aladdin (Mena Massoud) and his monkey Abu steal to survive. One day, they meet a young woman (Naomi Scott) who says her name is Dalia and is the princess’ handmaiden. Turns out she’s actually the sultan’s daughter, Princess Jasmine, who’s been kept away in the palace after her mother’s death. While the sultan is searching for a prince to marry him, his adviser Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) plots to take over. He seeks to enter the Cave of Wonders, but only a “diamond in the rough” may enter. Jafar tricks Aladdin into going into the cave to retrieve a magic lamp, only to leave him to die. However, Abu manages to steal the lamp, and Aladdin rubs it, which ends up summoning the Genie (Will Smith). With the Genie’s help, Aladdin hopes to become a prince and marry Jasmine.
While I do have my issues with the film, there are some things that work, such as Will Smith. Before the movie came out, people were upset over his genie, which was a CGI recreation of the animated genie. That weird CGI genie is here, but there’s also regular Will Smith as the genie, and he’s actually pretty entertaining. Though no one can replace Robin Williams’ performance, Smith does just enough to make this genie his own version. Speaking of the cast, Massoud and Scott do a serviceable job, and they have decent chemistry with each other. However, Marwan’s Jafar is easily the weakest part of the film, lacking the menace the character should have. From a film-making perspective, the production design is fairly elaborate and colorful, and Guy Ritchie’s direction helps give it style. There’s plenty to like, but also plenty to dislike about this version.
Probably the biggest problem is the common problem that what works in animation doesn’t translate well to film. While the animation made the original feel more dynamic and epic, here it feels somewhat flat and more scaled back. Story-wise, if you’ve seen the original, you pretty much know what happens in this version, though there’s some changes. For one, Jasmine is given a more active role, aspiring to be sultan, instead of being a damsel in distress. Also, whereas the Genie was just a genie in the original, here he’s actually a human turned into a genie. The Genie even has a love interest, which is an odd addition as it seems like a slight afterthought. While I think this film isn’t nearly as bad as the internet predicted, I wouldn’t actively watch it again. Overall, families with young children will enjoy Aladdin, but I’d recommend just re-watching the original.
