Film Review | Aladdin

Aladdin is directed by Guy Ritchie and stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott.

Adventure/Fantasy/Romance. Released 2019.

Aladdin is the live-action retelling of the beloved 1992 animated Disney classic, which ranks among the most universally praised animated films of all time. There has been a lot of skepticism surrounding this new rendition in reaction to the promotional campaign... myself included:

"It doesn't yet feel as sweeping and cinematic as say, Beauty & The Beast"

"The world doesn't feel large enough"

"Jafar is not menacing enough and Aladdin is not rugged enough"

...and I am glad to say that none of those initial issues were in the film - in fact, there barely were any problems. There are a few elements of the plot that are a little too coincidental, and a certain development of Aladdin's character which feels a little too rushed, and even though these are issues in regards to the story-telling, they are so insignificant amidst this absolutely sumptuous and spectacular experience.

I will firstly address my opinion on Guy Ritchie as the director. I still do question Disney's choice to hire him, however, because his style wasn't particularly distinctive with the exception of a few sequences. But, even though I question it, now that I've seen Aladdin I do not object to it in the slightest. This review is being written just a day after seeing the film, but as of right now, I think this is the greatest live-action Disney remake thus far (I am aware The Lion King and Mulan are just around the corner). The reason I say this is because Aladdin feels like an amalgamation of all of the live-action Disney remakes that have come before - the charm of Cinderella, the power of The Jungle Book, the tenderness of Dumbo and the sweeping, delicate magnificence of Beauty And The Beast, all with an injection of sheer, spontaneous fun, mostly thanks to Will Smith's Genie. 

Let's start with the Genie - universally, one of the biggest questions going into Aladdin was whether he would live up to Robin Williams, and... no, he doesn't, but as an audience member, you would be doing yourself a disservice to compare Smith to Williams - the best way to watch his performance is to go in with a clean slate and judge him based on his own merits, which there are plenty of. He is - as to be expected - really charismatic in the role, and it works. Friend Like Me is everything you want it to be, and is definitely on par with the Be Our Guest extravaganza from 2017's Beauty And The Beast. Prince Ali is vibrant, colourful and spectacular, however I feel that Smith could've done with more vocal support - the best parts of that number are where the chorus sing, something very well executed in the epic opener Arabian Nights. What lets the Genie down is his visual effects - they're distractingly not perfect, and at some points I felt very separate from the character, regardless of his performance, but thankfully there are significant parts of the film where he is non-CGI.

Mena Massoud gives a very satisfying performance of the titular character. He is nothing unexpected, but at the same time he is quite spot on, and portrays Aladdin's character arc effectively. While the first proper musical number One Jump Ahead is somewhat underwhelming (even though still fun), Massoud accurately conveys his able physicality and mischievous trickery and follows that through with his aforementioned character arc - an arc supported very strongly by the already iconic Jasmine. Naomi Scott is, without question, my favourite part of Aladdin. In fact, I am not even a huge fan of the original animated character, but this updated version brought to life by the writing team and Scott herself is the Jasmine I've been waiting for. I also want to commend Alan Menken and the lyricist team of Pasek and Paul for finally giving Jasmine the 'I want' song lacking from the 1992 original, Speechless, which literally did induce chills and tears. Scott's vocals are phenomenal and her delivery feels extremely heartfelt; I found it rather breathtaking, and is deserving of a nomination for Best Original Song at the Oscars next year. It's not the most original subject matter, however given the worrying lack of modern values instilled in middle eastern culture, it felt very profound and close to the truth. And, obviously when discussing Aladdin and Jasmine's musical numbers, there remains one big question: Is A Whole New World as good as its supposed to be? ...Yes. It absolutely is.

And that grandeur and beauty in the A Whole New World musical number applies to the film as a whole. Visually, its spectacular, majestic, intricate, breathtaking and simply stunning, thanks to tremendous work from the costume and production designers. Along with the score and musical elements, the middle eastern culture radiates off the screen and seems to give Aladdin an authentic cultural flavour - just listen to Harvest Dance. Again, just like with music, Aladdin seriously deserves some awards recognition for the costume and production design. 

I am not entirely sure how this could be any better (maybe if Jafar had more of his original characteristics, but that is all). Even though there are small elements of the plot and character development which feel slightly rushed, it does not affect my enjoyment of this film at all, just as I am sure audiences across the globe will thoroughly enjoy it. It is a stunning and ceaselessly fun crowd-pleaser and it has just made me all the more excited for Mulan.

B+