A Whole New World...almost?

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While watching the live action version of Beauty and The Beast in 2017, I remember wondering why Disney was trying to self-destruct its own classics purely to rake in revenue. It was only when I saw Aladdin last evening that realization hit me - every live-action film, from Jungle Book to now, Aladdin, gives their animated lead characters defining backstories and firmly closes the loopholes in the animated films. The moolah helps too, I’m sure.

But somewhere along this contrived process, Disney fails to revamp the one thing that matters the most - the story. As a result, their live-action movies are.....well... entertaining, but still predictable and devoid of the magic their animated versions possessed. Aladdin is no different, though, I preferred this live action to the live action version of Beauty and the Beast.

To his credit, Guy Ritchie tries (and sometimes absolutely succeeds) to avoid any comparisons to the animated version from the get-go - the animated version began in the desert, this one begins in the sea; the Genie was manically funny in the animated version while in the live action one, it’s just Will Smith being his ‘Hitch’ self; Aladdin and Jasmine are quite obscenely underdressed in the first film while in this one they’re both suitably dressed, so on and so forth. The fictional city of Agrabah gets more layered, with the palace forming a cohesive part of the city rather than crowing over it and the presence of (what appears to be ) a bustling port. One tone characters from the animated classic - like the portly, comically distressed Sultan and the evil Jafar- are richer versions of themselves in this film. The graphics are superb, and all the camerawork made for 3D IMAX screens is simply spectacular.

Agrabah!
(Image Courtesy: imdb.com)

At the same time, Ritchie doesn’t abandon the animated version altogether. The introduction sequence, set to ‘Arabian Nights’ still induced as many goosebumps as its animated version did and is shot like a beautiful one-take, with visuals of all the characters.,Some iconic moments from the original are recreated but not replicated completely and the already hummable music is enhanced with the addition of fresh new verses and one amazing original song, Speechless, which is this summer’s ‘Let It Go’ (Frozen 2 releases in November 😜)

But the biggest upgrade in this film is Jasmine (Naomi Scott) - her feistiness is the soul of the film, and I can’t begin to describe how wonderful it is to see a brave, outspoken, ambitious Disney princess yearning for the position of the Sultan instead of pining for a lover. Naomi Scott lights up the screen whenever she is on it, making Aladdin (Mena Massoud) and Genie (Will Smith) pale in comparison. Jasmine’s character is so powerful that for a fleeting moment during the end of the film, I half-expected her to save the day! (Disney might put that in their made-for-Netflix version of Aladdin in 2040 😁).

Naomi Scott as Jasmine was the best part!
(Image Courtesy: imdb.com)

Although not as striking as one would expect Aladdin to be, Mena Massoud brings an earnestness and playfulness to the character. He parkours all the way, making me wonder if there was any gravity-defying stunt that scared him! Massoud’s comic timing is wonderful too - look out for the scene where he breaks into an impromptu dance of sorts and at his nervous charm in the ‘Prince Ali’ song. Marwan Kenzari as Jafar is quietly menacing but needs more chutzpah and less justification of his evilness. Yes, he made the wrong choices, but that doesn’t automatically make him bad.

Aladdin (Mena Massoud) and Jafar (Marwan Kenzari)
(Image Courtesy: imdb.com)

The disappointments of the film begin with Genie, played by Will Smith. Now, Will Smith is a great entertainer, but filling the shoes of Robin Williams is way too much responsibility, which is why Smith wantonly strays away from the RW path. And the best scenes are the ones where Will Smith is being Will Smith’s version of Genie - sedately fun, appropriately humorous and…..hopefully not blue. The worst are the rest - where he tries to get into the RW mode (probably because of pressure by the makers and the perceived pressure of fans) by being affectedly funny, rampantly chatty and much too dressy, much to my discomfort.

Will Smith as Genie. He is best when he is attired like this in the film!
(Image Courtesy: imdb.com)

Another disappointment was the pace of the film. While the entire film and characters are nicely set, the ending seems to be rushed, with all action but no beats. I guess hurried, haphazard endings are ‘on fleek’ now, what with GoT’s finale season getting the same treatment! I’m glad the makers did away with the whole Jasmine-seduction scene of the animated film though - it was a bizarre aberration in the 1992 film as well! And, speaking of aberrations, the random dance in the film and the end credits seems a bit jarring, especially since a lot of music sounds more Indian and less Arabic.

The movie did come with a ‘No Animals Were Harmed’ disclosure, but I beg to differ - I think all the animals in the film were harmed. There is otherwise, simply no explanation as to why Iago, Jafar’s sarcastic yet hilarious parrot in 1992, becomes a dull, repeating parrot with no witty lines. I loved that parrot, man! The monkey Abu, fares only slightly better than Iago, but I guess it is rather difficult for a CGI monkey to act when nowadays acting seems to be beyond the capability of human actors, and a motion capture version of Andy Serkis playing a monkey would be overkill!

Despite its flaws, Aladdin is one hell of an entertaining film, more so if you’ve been fans of the 1992 version. Go for the grandeur, the visuals, the songs, for Jasmine - these are really enough to keep you hooked to your seats!