Aladdin 2019, like all the other “live-action” Disney remakes, is boring, unneeded and the equivalent of having keys dangled in front of your face for two hours.
This remake somehow manages to simultaneously abridge and pad out content, making a finished product that feels incredibly bloated.
It also commits the same sin as the other Disney remakes by assuming the audience is familiar with the original cartoon. This means a lot of plot elements are skimmed over rather than being given time to breathe. At the same time, it adds in new scenes and subplots that not only lack in quality, but ultimately go nowhere and could have been cut without changing a thing.
Worst of all though is this re-imaginations complete lack of imagination. There are no interesting new additions or visuals that make the transition from animation to live-action feel worthwhile. The Cave of Wonders is severely less intimidating and wondrous. Jafar’s magic lacks any flair, the best he can manage is making Iago into a kaiju for five minutes. Genie’s manic energy has also been toned down and he spends a lot of the film as an ordinary human, likely because of budget reasons.
Yes, hand drawn animation can get away with a lot more than live-action, but that’s no excuse for laziness. The film chooses to go for the bare minimum rather than actually make something interesting.
Moving onto the songs, “Friend like me” and “Prince Ali” were better than I was expecting, but still sound very auto-tuned. Jasmine gets her own songs in this version, but they sound far too modern in comparison to the other tracks and feel very forced into the plot.
The acting isn’t special and neither is the script. Aladdin and Jasmine’s actors are fine, but a bit bland. A side-plot is added about Jasmine wanting to be sultan, but I wouldn’t say it makes her character any more interesting. Abu isn’t as likeable and the CGI makes him look uncanny rather than cute. Jasmine’s handmaid is a particularly unneeded, annoying character who was written in just to pad out the film’s already bloated runtime with a romantic subplot involving Genie. But, I think Jafar comes out the worst out of all the characters.
This Jafar lacks any of the venom and presence of the original, he’s just an ordinary looking guy who gets a bit shouty sometimes. The film thinks having Jafar kill someone for no reason automatically makes him scary, rather than actually writing him well.
The only character, funnily enough, I can say works ok is Will Smith as Genie. Yeah, weird right? That’s likely only because Will is naturally charismatic and seems to be having fun with the role.
Even if I was to critique the film on its own merits, and not compare it with the original (which is always going to happen, being a remake), the film is still not great. Poor editing, pacing, music, characters, effects etc, are core issues that can affect any film negatively.
Yet another lazy Disney remake
Aladdin 2019, like all the other “live-action” Disney remakes, is boring, unneeded and the equivalent of having keys dangled in front of your face for two hours.
This remake somehow manages to simultaneously abridge and pad out content, making a finished product that feels incredibly bloated. It also commits the same sin as the other Disney remakes by assuming the audience is familiar with the original cartoon. This means a lot of plot elements are skimmed over rather than being given time to breathe. At the same time, it adds in new scenes and subplots that not only lack in quality, but ultimately go nowhere and could have been cut without changing a thing.
Worst of all though is this re-imaginations complete lack of imagination. There are no interesting new additions or visuals that make the transition from animation to live-action feel worthwhile. The Cave of Wonders is severely less intimidating and wondrous. Jafar’s magic lacks any flair, the best he can manage is making Iago into a kaiju for five minutes. Genie’s manic energy has also been toned down and he spends a lot of the film as an ordinary human, likely because of budget reasons. Yes, hand drawn animation can get away with a lot more than live-action, but that’s no excuse for laziness. The film chooses to go for the bare minimum rather than actually make something interesting.
Moving onto the songs, “Friend like me” and “Prince Ali” were better than I was expecting, but still sound very auto-tuned. Jasmine gets her own songs in this version, but they sound far too modern in comparison to the other tracks and feel very forced into the plot.
The acting isn’t special and neither is the script. Aladdin and Jasmine’s actors are fine, but a bit bland. A side-plot is added about Jasmine wanting to be sultan, but I wouldn’t say it makes her character any more interesting. Abu isn’t as likeable and the CGI makes him look uncanny rather than cute. Jasmine’s handmaid is a particularly unneeded, annoying character who was written in just to pad out the film’s already bloated runtime with a romantic subplot involving Genie. But, I think Jafar comes out the worst out of all the characters. This Jafar lacks any of the venom and presence of the original, he’s just an ordinary looking guy who gets a bit shouty sometimes. The film thinks having Jafar kill someone for no reason automatically makes him scary, rather than actually writing him well.
The only character, funnily enough, I can say works ok is Will Smith as Genie. Yeah, weird right? That’s likely only because Will is naturally charismatic and seems to be having fun with the role.
Even if I was to critique the film on its own merits, and not compare it with the original (which is always going to happen, being a remake), the film is still not great. Poor editing, pacing, music, characters, effects etc, are core issues that can affect any film negatively.