Fun for the most part

Rating: 6/10 (30 May 2019)

Well I don't think I really need to tell you what this is, but who knows. Here we have the (mostly) live action remake of the famous animated movie Aladdin from the early 90s. These remakes are a big thing now, there was Beauty and the Beast already, not too long ago Dumbo and here we have Aladdin that adds to this idea as well before The Lion King is next up. But now for Aladdin: Director and co-writer is Guy Ritchie, who is probably still at least as known for being married to Madonna as he is for his most known filmmaking efforts. And while he may be British, there isn't too much British about this film we got here. It is an American production, but takes place mostly in a fictitious Arab location. The American component is emphasized by Will Smith, who is really the only well-known actor here and honestly without him playing the genie, it would have been much more difficult to promote this film in America. But yeah, he is an A-lister and can carry it on his shoulders. Not necessarily acting- or performance-wise, but in terms of star potential. The movie runs for 2 hours, slightly over even, and I won't go too much into detail about the story here. You know it if you know the original. It's been so long since I saw that, so I cannot say a whole lot about differences and similarities either. There is animation in here, but not really too much. Of course the genie parts involving Smith and eventually Jafar rely a lot on special effects. Same goes for the animals, like Jasmin's tiger or Abu, Aladdin's little monkey. The latter is in my opinion really the best thing about the entire film honestly. His scenes and inclusions and expressions were so priceless and funny that I almost wished the whole film could be about the monkey. Sadly, he is pretty much gone story-wise in the second half.
As for the human character, Aladdin and his actor Mena Massoud were okay, nothing too good or bad about him that stood out. Naomi Scott was just as stunning as she should have been portraying the gorgeous princess (eventually Sultan) Jasmine. Also, she seemed very emancipated to me, I am not sure if it was like this in the original movie as well or just included to get along with the #metoo age. But it doesn't matter. I still liked her and the character. As for Jafar, tough to say. I can see why they did not want to keep him too scary, even if he kills another character on at least one occasion, because also kids are supposed to see this family fantasy film, but the looks had very little to do with the sleaziness of the animated Jafar. Same for the Sultan, who added very little really and there I thought the costume and make-up wasn't perfect. Other than that, the visual side was really good here in terms of costumes, make-up, sets and special effects. The songs did not do as much for me sadly, which may be because I watched the German dub admittedly. So I suggest you go for the original language with this one. The Hakim character I liked. And now about Will Smith's character. Well, obviously he did not look physically similar to the animated genie, but I think there is no perfect actor for that part. In general, I am not a huge Smith fan (anymore), but I think he was okay here. Also pay attention to how they include him right at the very beginning here during a time that takes place several years after the movie. Did it work? I think yes, but also obviously it was done so we see who the big star here is (and it's not Massoud, even if that one is also more prolific than you may think) because Smith does not appear for a long time afterwards again. With that opening scene and the idea of him singing the story of Aladdin to his kids, I kinda expected a bit of a frame to the film that it also ends on the ship, but nope. Then again, that was not necessary really. We know who the woman on the ship is with how the story develops and that they are his kids. Haha still could have made for a troll-like success to show us Jasmin is actually the mother of his children there. Anyway, that would have been too absurd obviously.
Now that is basically all I have to say about this movie. It is really what one could expect given the subject and the director and the budget I would say. There are some memorable moments like when Apu is willing to take that precious red gem or when he reveals himself that he stole Jasmin's jewels and more moments. Also some underwhelming moments. Like the big show Genie puts on in his presentation did not really wow me that much. I am curious if this film can get in in any of the visual categories at the Oscars, but maybe most people have forgotten about it until then. A real standout film that will blow you away it is not. Back to Apu, with me mentioning him twice slready you see how much I enjoyed his character here. What else can I add, let me think. Oh yeah, the parrot and the carpet are included too of course, but neither play a really big role. Or lets say neither is really memorable because I mean the carpet does a lot and is a bit of an unsung hero taking Aladdin back from the eternal ice and also saving Jasmin right away. That was surprising though that she was so confident he'd be there this quickly. Maybe the least realistic moment. Oh yeah one more thing, they somehow had to deal with Aladdin being a thief too and that he is still a kind-hearted person despite his profession as a criminal. They did that fine with how he tells Abu that some life lesson related to stealing or how he gets basically used by the guy he gives his prey to and he only gets very few dates for his effort and he gives these dates to a starving kid and his mom. And to Apu of course. We sure should not see Aladdin as anything resembling a bad guy. I think that shhould be all now. You won't be seeing any surprises with this film in the positive or negative sense. It is a rock-solid watch from beginning to end and I give it a thumbs-up overall. Go check it out unless you really hate the original material, but seriously, why would anybody do so? I think both films are worth seeing!