A laudable effort

Rating: Null/10 (11 September 2019)

I'd say this is more like it. Aladdin is merely the latest in the recent long line of Disney live-action remakes. So far all of them have been disappointments. At least to yours truly. All so far have had at least a few redeeming qualities, but they have all paled in comparison to the originals. It's hard to turn animation to live-action, it seems. There's energy and vibrancy to animation, which Disney has always been a master of utilizing. And that energy doesn't translate very well when you need to be more realistic.
Which is why I think it was exactly the right call to hand this film over to Guy Ritchie. The man has been directing live-action animation films his whole career, frankly speaking. If there's something that has never been missing in his films, it's energy.
And I can safely say I like what he has done with his source material. This Aladdin pays homage to the original Disney animated film, but is confident enough to move past it, to extrapolate, to change things, to even improve. And while I still vastly prefer the original, I think this will be the first Disney live-action remake, which I will return to.
So what works? Well, as I already said, the film is not afraid to mix things up a little bit. It's still mostly the same story, but it's not identical. Jasmine's role, for one, has been expanded by a whole lot, which I find to be a great thing. The original Jasmine was a feisty thing, but she didn't have that much to do in the film, aside from being the love interest. Sure, she distracted Jafar at that one point, but that's about it. This Jasmine has much more of her own voice, her own part to play. And I like it!
Will Smith's Genie is also pretty different, a lot grumpier for one, which I also like. It would have been hard to beat Robin Williams, so I'm glad they didn't even try. Most of the extra run-time of this film compared to the original is spent with either Jasmine or Genie and they're all good, funny scenes.
So what doesn't work? Well, Jafar for one. I like the small hints we get at his backstory, but aside from that he's a much more subdued version of the original. And it's such a disappointment. The original Jafar was a magnificent villain, one of Disney's best. I guess they were afraid to go too over the top, but that's unfortunately exactly what was needed here. Something more bombastic and menacing. This guy says his lines very placidly, very calmly, very methodically. And it's just not that scary.
And while I applaud the film for trying for something similar yet different, there are moments in the film that are pretty much identical to the original film. They're also the moments I found myself caring the least about, because I had already seen them.
The film also isn't quite as interesting visually as the animated version. It looks amazing, don't get me wrong, but the more realistic look means that they can't go as over the top crazy as they did in the original. And that loss is felt.
Still, even though most of this review was spent comparing the film to its animated predecessor, I truly do feel that this is the first Disney live-action remake that can stand on its own two feet. It has the energy and creativity to awe its audience without the crutch of nostalgia. Kudos, Disney. You finally did it.