Director: Guy Ritchie
Release Date: 2019
Running Time: 2hrs 8 minutes
Genre: Family/Adventure
Rating: PG
Synopsis:
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.
It seems it's very trendy for film-makers these days to re-make old movies. Some movies I do believe should be left alone. Not only is it not very original for a filmmaker to re-make a classic, it also doesn't allow audiences to see something different or new. It's recycled. Disney animations are no exception, however they are somewhat different, in the sense that they are made into live action rather than recycled for the directors own glory. I was surprised to learn when "Aladdin" was in production that actor Guy Ritchie was down to direct. It seems director Jon Favreau is the one grabbing all of the Disney classics to re-make, so it was nice to see someone else behind the camera this time.
Aladdin was always cheeky and charming in the animation. Does Mena Massoud live up to that role? Yes and no. Massoud is wonderfully charming, he fits into the role of Aladdin nicely. He certainly looks the part. Naomi Campbell is perfect as Princess Jasmine. I honestly couldn't think of anyone else filling her shoes. Campbell's musical numbers are excellent, there was certainly no wrong doing when it came to her casting. It can be exceptionally hard to fill someone else shoes, especially when you are filling the shoes of the late Robin Williams. Williams was truly incredible as the genie. Will Smith however did an excellent job at filling those shoes in his own way with no disrespect to Robin Williams at all. The only performance I was dissapointed with was that of Marwan Kenzari who played Jafar. I personally thought his characterisation should have been far more threatening. Jafar was exceedingly controlling in the original animation. Sadly his performance is quite wooden.
Director of photography Alan Stewart deserves the utmost praise for his in this film. The cinematography is absolutely stunning. It's everything you imagined and so much more, the attention to detail in Agra Bra is magnificent. The cave of wonders is stunning and matches the original footage of the animation perfectly. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson also deserves praise for his work in designing stunning pieces, especially for Niomi as Princess Jasmine. Her costumes are what really allow her character to come to life. Stunning and authentic. Unfortunately there have been a few changes to the storyline, whether or not this matches the original book, I couldn't say.
The musical numbers are very hit and miss unfortunately. The strongest songs being "Friend like me" and "A whole new world", both sequences match the original animation beautifully. The opening musical number "One jump" has been dramatically slowed down. I'd imagine this was put into place in order to keep up with the live action sequences. Audiences were even introduced to a new number "Speechless", although never shown in the original animation, it fits into the film perfectly and allows Princess Jasmine to show more of her character. Most certainly this is one of the better Disney live actions out there and definitely worth a watch.
4/5 stars
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