A lot of people are saying “Will is no Robin Williams, but he wasn’t bad”. These comparisons are, of course, inevitable.
Everyone has seen the animated Disney’s Aladdin countless times. Nostalgia and Robin’s death were both huge hurdles for the new movie (and Will Smith) to overcome. I worried about this going in myself. I also worried, having seen Aladdin those “countless times”, that I’d get bored and feel like I was simply rewatching a movie instead of watching something new.
To be clear, there was quite a bit of rewatching to the movie, but in a good way. You want to see certain scenes play out live. You want to hear the songs you know the words to by heart. Naturally, the new Aladdin does just that. They even added a couple of new songs for Jasmine to sing. With all that music, Aladdin came off as more of a musical than the remake of Dumbo did. And why not? Those extravagant sets. Those brightly colored costumes. It lends itself perfectly to big, fun musical numbers. I mean, there’s a reason it was turned into a Broadway musical after all.
I was glad that the movie embraced this aspect and included elaborate dance numbers along with a few of its songs. Disney was once known for its live-action musicals (Mary Poppins anyone?), so it’s nice to see a legacy of that still coming to the theaters.
Back to Will. He wasn’t as zany as Robin Williams. Then again, who COULD be? No one that I can think of. Robin was one of a kind. Will was very good in the role though. He brought some zaniness, especially when just getting out of the lamp during the “You Never Had a Friend Like Me” song. It made sense, he’d been cooped up for 1000 years. At this point, I worried he may try to “be Robin” the entire performance. Luckily, this wasn’t the case. He shifted to a knowing, big brother type to give advice to Aladdin. While not zany, he continued to bring the typical Will Smith flare. Honestly, in live action, I’m not sure zaniness would have played well the whole time as it did in the animated version. There were similar schticks, just not as many of them. Instead of 20 impressions, Will did one of Sylvester Stallone. So, think “Robin Williams…but contained.”
The rest of the cast was unknown to me before watching the movie. However, Mena Massoud (Aladdin) and Naomi Scott (Jasmine) were amazing. Mena had the perfect mix of humor, goofiness, and physicality needed to be Aladdin. I would imagine that, though he may have been fairly unknown up to this point, if he chooses his movies wisely, he’ll be well-known from now on. Naomi was wonderful too. Her voice was so pretty that you can see why they gave her a couple of extra songs. Unlike other actresses recently trying too hard to embody a “girl power” strong female, Naomi was very believable and enjoyable to watch as she questioned why a woman can’t be sultan.
Another player in the movie, Director Guy Ritchie, was a great choice for this movie! Aladdin’s quick action, especially as he traverses the city, is very kinetic. Ritchie, known for filming quick-paced action shots is ideal for showing this kind of fun, fast action.
All parts added together equal a great remake and a great movie.
Rated 4 out of 5.
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