THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
1992's Aladdin has grown to be one of Walt Disney's many animated classics. Since the 2010s was the beginning of the studio remaking their films consistently, it was only a matter of time for this one to be next.
PLOT
The 2019 adaptation follows the basic story from the predecessor, while also adding things to spice up the plot. Taking place in the fictional city of Agrabah, the film follows the titular street rat who encounters Jasmine, unaware to him that she is the city's princess, secretly roaming the city to escape her sheltered lifestyle. Keeping her cover, she claims to be handmaiden. She hopes to be a sultan like her father before her, but she is expected to marry a royal suitor. When Aladdin sneaks into the palace to visit her, he is arrested and encounters the vizier Jafar. He intends to overthrow the city to be the powerful person to ever lived. Keeping his plan secret, he sends him to steal a lamp from a cave, thinking he will have riches to impress the princess. He only chooses him because only one with a pure heart can enter the cave, or as the living cave says a ‘diamond in the rough’. Aladdin enters the cave with his monkey Abu and right when the lamp is discovered, Abu makes the mistake of touching forbidden treasure. They encounter a magic carpet that takes them back to the entry. Jafar attempts to leave them for dead but Abu keeps the lamp from him when they remain stuck in the cave. When Aladdin rubs the lamp, it summons a magical genie that grants him only three wishes. He tricks him to help them escape the cave without making an actual wish. Once they're outside, the first official wish is to become a prince in order to marry Jasmine, as told by Jafar that she is the princess. He returns to Agrabah under the name Prince Ali of Ababwa, but doesn't impress her immediately. At night, he gets her to fall for him on a magic carpet ride, while Genie has a late night stroll with the handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad). Jasmine figures out who Ali is but he keeps his cover saying that he dresses like a peasant to explore Agrabah. When he returns her home, they share their first kiss. He is certain that she is falling for him but Genie insists that he must eventually tell her the truth of who he is. The following morning, Jafar abducts Ali and tosses him into the palace moat, to prove if he has the lamp or not. He is saved by the Genie, with the sacrifice of the second wish. He alerts Jasmine of what happened and she tries to share this with her father (Navid Negahban) but he is hypnotized by Jafar's staff. When Al notices this and destroys the staff, Jafar is imprisoned and the Sultan approves of Jasmine deciding Ali to be married to. Al is however worried how things will turn out and wants to save his final wish. This upsets Genie because he promised to set him free with the final wish. Jafar breaks out of imprisonment with the aid of his macaw Iago and is able to snatch the lamp from Aladdin without him even knowing it. With the Genie at his command, his first wish is to be the powerful sultan of Agrabah. As he demands for all to obey him, everyone defies him which leads his second wish to be a powerful sorcerer. With his new powers, he reveals to the princess that Ali is Aladdin, exiling him to a frozen wasteland. Genie secretly teleports the magic carpet to the said area to give him a chance to return. He surprisingly returns in time to prevent a marriage between Jafar and Jasmine to occur. The princess quickly takes the lamp and escapes with the man she loves but are chased by Iago, who is briefly transformed to a roc. The bird gets the upper hand as it succeeds in capturing them both, destroying the magic carpet in the process. Aladdin is then able to trick Jafar to make his third wish of becoming a genie, in order to be the most powerful being in the universe. As he becomes a genie, he gets trapped in a lamp of his own and takes Iago with him. Genie would than send that lamp straight to the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin keeps his promise by using the final wish to free the Genie. Now that he is, he can now live his life as a human. He chooses to spend his life with Dalia, who he has fallen for. It is revealed that he is the same mariner from the beginning, sharing the story of Aladdin to his two children. Jasmine is crowned by her father as Agrabah's first sultana after passing a ring to her. With this coronation, she can marry anyone royal or not. The film ends her choosing Aladdin, as we see them live their happily ever after once married.
THOUGHTS
You know despite the love I’ve had for the animated predecessor, those same feelings don’t exactly apply here. This movie is entertaining and I am happy that kids in the 2010s get to grow up to a version of the story in their childhood, but I wasn’t hyped because I knew this was easy money for the studio. So easy that it made a billion dollars when it came out like The Lion King would months later. When I got around checking this out during the fall of 2019, I do believe that Director Guy Ritchie was able to handle the story but is too respectful to it that he doesn’t seem to go any further. The execution is honestly not perfect to behold, as much as I want it to be. Like Psycho, it feels more of a copy paste of a movie by keeping exact moments intact and not changing as much as I originally thought. I’m not asking for the entire plot to change but the stuff that did change had minimal effect. Honestly, Beauty and the Beast had a better job handling this situation compared to this movie. And I felt like this one has more problems within the actual story, whether or not they’re the same problems from the original film. First off, I love Genie but I do not believe is how he fell for Dalia overnight. We don’t see what he sees in her because we’re reliving ‘A Whole New World’ making that romance not earned. The only thing that was cool about it is that it confirmed that he is the same character sharing the story from the beginning, confirming the theory of the animated classic. If anything was pretty weird when things were getting started was when Jafar smelled a dude and confirmed he wasn’t a ‘diamond in the rough’ which translates pure of heart. I know he has sorcery skills but since when does smelling someone confirm it? This was just a weird way to set up Jafar as a villain. Speaking of Jafar, he’s so obsessed with the lamp that he doesn’t think of alternatives. Since he uses the staff to hypnotize the Sultan, why hasn’t he used it convince him to step down from the throne? If he’s so determined to conquer other kingdoms, it surprises me that he hasn’t done it yet. He even makes another mistake on trying to kill Aladdin before finding the lamp. He is the only guy who knew where it was and if he wanted it so bad, he could’ve hypnotized him, get the lamp and then kill him. He’s even more stupid to banish Aladdin when he could’ve just killed him at the palace. I don’t want to root for the villains but they could make better decisions than this. I never noticed this in the original and I gotta say it now: Why does Abu get to go in the cave with Aladdin? The cave said that only one can enter, so it should’ve closed when sensing the monkey enter as well. I know it’s cool how Genie can add a new location to a map but how does the whispering between him and Aladdin work out? That was such an arbitrary power used only for convenience and it bothers me for not being explained. And lastly, I am livid when Jasmine casually becomes Sultan when her father gave her a ring. He doesn’t even announce that he’ll change the laws for women to be Sultan and casually hand her it. You’re telling me any woman could’ve had the throne the past thousand years if they were given a goddamn ring? God that sounds lazier than the stuff Jafar does. If you find a way to ignore all of these flaws, than I have hope that you’ll enjoy this movie for what it is. As I lean into the good stuff, it’s clear to me that this film remains watchable on my end because the cast is able to keep the pace going. Breakout Mena Massoud impressed me when it came to playing titular lead because he pulled off embracing the slick and suave personality of the character, presenting him as in that’s always in control. And that is what has him likable ever since. I really hope the actor gets more gigs after this, because I see his potential. Naomi Scott impressed with Jasmine because she kept the firm independence the character is known for. Her song ‘Speechless’ may sound on the nose but it suits the character. Aside from appearing too young for the role, Marwan Kenzari was solid at keeping Jafar as deceptive and power-hungry the character is known for. While it was cool for Frank Welker to return to voice Abu the monkey, Rajah the tiger and the Cave of Wonders, I got to say Alan Tudyk was pretty good at voicing Iago. It caught my eye because it was cool hearing him imitate a macaw, rather than copying the over the top personality that Gilbert Godfried displayed. Last but not least, no one will ever outdo what Robin Williams did for playing the Genie because it’s impossible to match his energy. Having said that, I think Will Smith made his portrayal work because he’s not copying the respected actor but tries his best to be his own thing by using his known charisma. If that didn’t work, this movie would’ve been doomed. The best use of the movie’s visual effects are whenever Smith is in blue form and during the ‘Friend Like Me’ sequence, which saves the movie in my opinion. His days as a rapper are past him but his singing voice can still hang. To wrap up, 2019’s Aladdin is a remake that didn’t need to happen but exists anyway. If you have deep love for the animated classic, good luck getting through this one. And if you don’t like this film by Guy Ritchie, go watch The Gentlemen.
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