Review: Aladdin (2019)
Jul. 3rd, 2019 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitter_n_goreFirst, you should know that the 1992 animated Aladdin is my very favorite Disney movie. I saw it five times in theaters--a record I still haven't broken--collected a lot of novelty merchandise, some of which I still own, and watched both direct-to-video sequels AND the television series. I came prepared to scrutinize this remake unfairly whether I intended to or not, but I also came prepared to squee.
Guys. This movie is SO MUCH FUN.
SPOILERS GALORE!!! BE YE WARNED!!!
As anyone who was around for my Disney Princess Retrospective a couple years ago will know, I have A LOT of feelings about the 1992 movie. Some feelings I didn't quite know how to articulate when I first watched it as a kid. Twenty-seven years ago, in the car as we were leaving the theater, I poked my cousin in the arm and whispered, "Who do you think was the cutest?" She looked confused, and whispered back, "Rajah," and, okay, big stripy cat, yes that is a definition of "cute" also. But that's not what I meant. I said, "I think Aladdin was cutest!" Then it was like a light bulb went on, and she said, "Oh--me too."
I can't tell you how much that little, "Oh, we can talk about *boys* now!" bonding moment meant to me. Because I could maybe talk to my mom about it but it felt weird, and I definitely couldn't talk to my dad. But my cousin? The slightly older, cooler, Grunge kid who was totally smitten with Kurt Cobain? She got me.
What I'm trying to say is this movie was formative and important and life-changing for a lot of reasons, only some of which can be measured in terms of cinematic achievement. Also I have a feeling my story isn't that different from a lot of Elder Millennials for whom Aladdin marked our sexual awakening. He winds up on a lot of Top Ten lists, and it never surprises me.
Yeah, this scene:
Open vest . . . Stretching . . . Hair . . . Somebody help me caption this, it's distracting.
Source.
I needed this live action reboot to be good. And while I do have thoughts and opinions about the movie as a whole, more important to me was the casting of Aladdin. It took me a little while to warm up to Mena Massoud, and that's partly my fault for clocking all the ways it was DIFFERENT from the animated movie. (I couldn't help it; I've watched it about a hundred times, and I'm not even exaggerating.) But then I saw him dance. I took in the reality that this was not an animation, or enhanced by CGI that much, and at a close enough range that it wasn't a body double. This kid can move.
He's also charming, big-hearted, slippery, and quick with his words. The only place he really struggles is when he's trying to talk to Jasmine (Naomi Scott), and only then when he's in the Prince Ali disguise. So basically similar enough to the 1992 version that I couldn't help falling for this character all over again.
Slow close-up of Mena Massoud as Aladdin in marketplace
Source.
Honestly, this Aladdin pales slightly in comparison. In the cartoon his main flaw was pride. He had self-esteem issues because of his background and was convinced Jasmine would turn him down if she knew who he really was. But here, his flaw seems to be greed, and that creates a massive shift in his character arc. I'm not against the idea of power corrupting as a lesson worth learning in this story, but it still feels weird. Minor nitpick though.
Moving on: Will Smith is wonderful as the Genie. He puts his own more laid back, wise and worldly spin on the character. It's refreshing, and it wouldn't have been right to just remix the same thing Robin Williams did almost thirty years ago. He's motivated partly out of sheer joy at being out of the lamp and getting to see the world again, constantly marveling at the colors and wide open spaces surrounding them. He even gets a love interest here, which ordinarily would bother me, but his love interest? Is the best new addition in the whole movie.
Let's talk about Dalia (Nasim Pedrad). Oh my gosh, Dalia is an awkward, precious dork and I adore her. She reminds me a little of Janet from The Good Place: friendly, reliable, strangely literal, both dry and over-enthusiastic at once. We would definitely be friends. Also, I like that they gave Jasmine a BFF to hang out with. Technically a handmaiden, but Jasmine's total social isolation was one of the oddities in the original movie that didn't make any sense. She's a princess, of course she would have handmaidens. The interactions between the two of them, some of which happen entirely without dialogue, are fabulous, and something you can only appreciate if you've been in that, "Oh, we get to talk about *boys* now!" place I was talking about earlier.
Naomi Scott as Jasmine descending gilded staircase in dress with the longest train ever
Source.
Naomi Scott's Jasmine is even feistier and more ambitious than her cartoon counterpart. She's still objecting to the whole arranged marriage thing, but it's not just on the basis of wanting to marry for love. Oh no. She wants to rule the whole kingdom HERSELF, with or without a husband, and has been studying maps, local and national political law, and fostering relationships with her subjects to do it. She gets a whole new song with a reprise to hammer her motivations home. While it is a bit on-the-nose, I thought it was an improvement.
Am I gushing? I feel like I'm gushing. And I haven't even talked about the many spectacular dance numbers, the gorgeous costumes that seemed to keep coming, or the charming framing device that puts the focus back on the power of storytelling. The only things I weren't wowed by were Jafar (Marwan Kenzari is fine, but I think the movie's trying to make me feel sorry for him, and he just doesn't inspire the awe and terror of the Royal Vizier I knew and I loved to hate before), and the Cave of Wonders (I really miss the opening where we got to see it rise out of the sand. Did they forget to include it in the budget? What happened?).
Bottom line, this movie isn't perfect, but it is far and away the best of the Disney live action remakes so far. It is solidly entertaining, and well worth catching on the big screen.
(Cross-posted torhoda_rants.)
Guys. This movie is SO MUCH FUN.
SPOILERS GALORE!!! BE YE WARNED!!!
As anyone who was around for my Disney Princess Retrospective a couple years ago will know, I have A LOT of feelings about the 1992 movie. Some feelings I didn't quite know how to articulate when I first watched it as a kid. Twenty-seven years ago, in the car as we were leaving the theater, I poked my cousin in the arm and whispered, "Who do you think was the cutest?" She looked confused, and whispered back, "Rajah," and, okay, big stripy cat, yes that is a definition of "cute" also. But that's not what I meant. I said, "I think Aladdin was cutest!" Then it was like a light bulb went on, and she said, "Oh--me too."
I can't tell you how much that little, "Oh, we can talk about *boys* now!" bonding moment meant to me. Because I could maybe talk to my mom about it but it felt weird, and I definitely couldn't talk to my dad. But my cousin? The slightly older, cooler, Grunge kid who was totally smitten with Kurt Cobain? She got me.
What I'm trying to say is this movie was formative and important and life-changing for a lot of reasons, only some of which can be measured in terms of cinematic achievement. Also I have a feeling my story isn't that different from a lot of Elder Millennials for whom Aladdin marked our sexual awakening. He winds up on a lot of Top Ten lists, and it never surprises me.
Yeah, this scene:
Open vest . . . Stretching . . . Hair . . . Somebody help me caption this, it's distracting.
Source.
I needed this live action reboot to be good. And while I do have thoughts and opinions about the movie as a whole, more important to me was the casting of Aladdin. It took me a little while to warm up to Mena Massoud, and that's partly my fault for clocking all the ways it was DIFFERENT from the animated movie. (I couldn't help it; I've watched it about a hundred times, and I'm not even exaggerating.) But then I saw him dance. I took in the reality that this was not an animation, or enhanced by CGI that much, and at a close enough range that it wasn't a body double. This kid can move.
He's also charming, big-hearted, slippery, and quick with his words. The only place he really struggles is when he's trying to talk to Jasmine (Naomi Scott), and only then when he's in the Prince Ali disguise. So basically similar enough to the 1992 version that I couldn't help falling for this character all over again.
Slow close-up of Mena Massoud as Aladdin in marketplace
Source.
Honestly, this Aladdin pales slightly in comparison. In the cartoon his main flaw was pride. He had self-esteem issues because of his background and was convinced Jasmine would turn him down if she knew who he really was. But here, his flaw seems to be greed, and that creates a massive shift in his character arc. I'm not against the idea of power corrupting as a lesson worth learning in this story, but it still feels weird. Minor nitpick though.
Moving on: Will Smith is wonderful as the Genie. He puts his own more laid back, wise and worldly spin on the character. It's refreshing, and it wouldn't have been right to just remix the same thing Robin Williams did almost thirty years ago. He's motivated partly out of sheer joy at being out of the lamp and getting to see the world again, constantly marveling at the colors and wide open spaces surrounding them. He even gets a love interest here, which ordinarily would bother me, but his love interest? Is the best new addition in the whole movie.
Let's talk about Dalia (Nasim Pedrad). Oh my gosh, Dalia is an awkward, precious dork and I adore her. She reminds me a little of Janet from The Good Place: friendly, reliable, strangely literal, both dry and over-enthusiastic at once. We would definitely be friends. Also, I like that they gave Jasmine a BFF to hang out with. Technically a handmaiden, but Jasmine's total social isolation was one of the oddities in the original movie that didn't make any sense. She's a princess, of course she would have handmaidens. The interactions between the two of them, some of which happen entirely without dialogue, are fabulous, and something you can only appreciate if you've been in that, "Oh, we get to talk about *boys* now!" place I was talking about earlier.
Naomi Scott as Jasmine descending gilded staircase in dress with the longest train ever
Source.
Naomi Scott's Jasmine is even feistier and more ambitious than her cartoon counterpart. She's still objecting to the whole arranged marriage thing, but it's not just on the basis of wanting to marry for love. Oh no. She wants to rule the whole kingdom HERSELF, with or without a husband, and has been studying maps, local and national political law, and fostering relationships with her subjects to do it. She gets a whole new song with a reprise to hammer her motivations home. While it is a bit on-the-nose, I thought it was an improvement.
Am I gushing? I feel like I'm gushing. And I haven't even talked about the many spectacular dance numbers, the gorgeous costumes that seemed to keep coming, or the charming framing device that puts the focus back on the power of storytelling. The only things I weren't wowed by were Jafar (Marwan Kenzari is fine, but I think the movie's trying to make me feel sorry for him, and he just doesn't inspire the awe and terror of the Royal Vizier I knew and I loved to hate before), and the Cave of Wonders (I really miss the opening where we got to see it rise out of the sand. Did they forget to include it in the budget? What happened?).
Bottom line, this movie isn't perfect, but it is far and away the best of the Disney live action remakes so far. It is solidly entertaining, and well worth catching on the big screen.
(Cross-posted to
rhoda_rants.)