If you don't know Disney's take on Aladdin, what desert rock have you been living under?! It's the classic tale of a poor street rat who falls in love with a princess. He comes across a genie who offers to grant him 3 wishes, which he uses to get himself close to the princess. But there is another who is after the genie's power. Aladdin must decide between maintaining the lie of royalty and power to impress his princess, or giving it all up and being honest in order to protect everyone.
Right off the bat, Will Smith hits it out of the park with his rendition of Arabian Nights, the opening song from Disney's original Aladdin. After the atrocious live action Beauty and the Beast, Disney learned to hire actors who can actually sing. And Will Smith's take on the song is unique, but incredibly beautiful.
Heck, Will Smith as the genie is excellent! He does his best to make it his own thing instead of attempting to re-create Robin Williams' version. He definitely makes it fun without going over-the-top. Everyone who was upset over this film due to the genie's casting really needs to reserve judgment until they've seen it. I'm almost positive Robin Williams would approve of this version.
Jasmine is a symbol of wisdom, power, and strong leadership in this film. Not the whiny stubborn teenager of the animated version. Love is not her motivation throughout this film, but rather, something that happens along the way. I really admire her character.
The Sultan is also improved, not being the silly bubbly old fool from the animated film. He's a more serious Sultan, who is unfortunately showing his age, of which Jafar takes advantage.
Jafar was the only true reservation I had about this film. He was a creepy, disgusting older man in the original; evil incarnate. Whereas the live action version had a baby-faced, soft-spoken actor playing him. I expected him to be an annoying comic relief like the warden in Brendan Fraser's Mummy. But he does a fantastic job of being serious, evil, and cunning. He convinced me pretty early on that he's not a force to be messed with. (And apparently, the Internet is calling him the "hot Jafar." Do with that information what you will.)
Iago was creepy as hell! Unlike the funny loudmouth Gilbert Gottfried version we're all familiar with, you got a parrot who growls threatening and sometimes sarcastic comments under his breath at everyone. I really liked this version of him. He gave me the willies!
The film overall was a beautiful spectacle from start to finish. They put a lot of work into making it appear like a beautiful land lost to time in the middle east. The pacing of the story was perfect, while also being unique and not copying scene-for-scene from the original. They made it different enough from the original to make you feel like you were watching a completely new, yet familiar film.
You were in suspense throughout, wondering if this was going to tell the same story or branch off into a completely different tale. And even the scenes they copied directly from the original still felt like they were organic and not forced into the story as a half-baked nod to the original.
The music was incredible all the way through, including the two new songs they slipped in. One was a powerful solo by Jasmine about not being a quiet, subservient little girl when all seemed lost. It almost had me in tears! If nothing else, the music alone would've carried this movie. But fortunately, the story and visuals meshed so well, telling a fantastic tale.
I had a lot of fun watching this movie, and I might buy tickets just to go back and re-watch it again. If you've been sitting on the fence on whether to see this movie or not, go see it! You won't be disappointed. Despite the early controversy over remaking a Robin Williams classic, I believe they somehow managed to do everything right and make it a wonderful, yet unique retelling. I daresay this may be better than the original. What do you think?
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