Aladdin

I've been debating whether to review it here... Ultimately I conclude since I was around when the original came out, it's relevant for me to discuss it...

Yeah, I remember the time of the original Aladdin vividly. I went to the movies rarely since my family didn't do movies much, I mean, when we did go it was rare as crap or in one instance I was invited to my friend's birthday party and was taken to the movies during that time so that was how I got to experience the theater for the first time. That was magic.

I saw the Aladdin name on the side of the theater back then, even saw posters in the lobby. Me and my family were all about jurassic park and that was what dominated that time period more than any of the disney stuff and that was a mistake. I later viewed Aladdin on VHS and it would have blown my face off in the theater if I actually went to see it back then, probably could have if I just asked hard enough but I remember thinking I don't care about that movie...

What's up with this live action remake jazz going on. Am I for or against it. I'm like thinking this isn't really my cup of tea. It only diminishes the original's greatness to make an inferior rehash with little to no changes or enhancements or anything... It's akin to something like King Kong or like the thousandth peter pan retelling. In essence this movie reminded me so much of the 2003 peter pan. Good but if I had the option, I'd stick with the disney movie, or fox's peter pan and the pirates, so much more creative juices flowing in those versions. Hell even Hook warrants a mention, it's so different its a cult classic...

Same thing different year. It's just the original Aladdin story but done with will smith and slightly changed, but I found myself bored when it just retreaded the exact beats and story elements and even dialogue of the original film. Those moments brought the film down and just made no sense to include. I wondered why they didn't bother cutting out the repeated bits or do something new with it.

Laziness sadly. They were lazy and didn't want to spice it up too much. Only when they did and added totally different stuff was it actually good and engaging, otherwise you're just watching weak sauce live action Aladdin parody or something.

Not saying I'd have wanted MORE gilbert Godfrey as Iago but yeah, this Iago is a non-entity and has no flare or nothing... forgotten him already.

Are there better movies that tell a similar story and are more interesting? Yeah, just go watch arabian nights tv movie for starters, infinitely more interesting and deep and that was hell of a lot less budget and money but it doesn't trying to so hard to be a robin williams classic it's just being its own thing...

It's a decent flick is the best I can say about it... sorta like john carter of mars or mary poppins returns (perfect analogy same story told without as much punch)  and the guy who plays Aladdin is such a fanboy of Aladdin, he saves the film for me because of his earnestness to hit the same exact tone of the original Aladdin performance and capture Aladdin's soul in live action. That's where the movie wins most. Yes it's just a bland boring re-read of the original Aladdin script, but the actors have a passion for the story and it does come through. They grew up on it and none of them betray the soul of the original characters and tries to make us all see them as the real deal, that part was enjoyable. Otherwise, it's a the same thing you have at home on blu ray but watered down and not that different, they played it pretty safe honestly.... which is not even what the original aladdin did, I must say... that movie's pretty ballsy in places and that's what I liked in Disney movies back in the day. Yes fun for kids and stuff, but not insultingly saccharine... And lastly, it's a musical, but the musical parts are completely disjointed and don't fit... This has got to be one of the most internally conflicted musicals films ever made. The movie is not shot like a musical, only 3 characters sing, there's no feeling of this being a magical musical world where anyone can break the 4th wall at any time. Yet we have random singing bits that honestly don't impact or mean anything except to stand out and look parody-ish. You can see the embarrassment to be singing in the middle of a scene on the actor's faces. Even they know the movie would have worked fine without breaking out in song. It needed more narration so it could feel like a classic story being told through song and dance, not a legit movie that just happens to have songs sprinkled in it... they dropped the ball on that one...

Anyway it's good for the kids.... If you're expecting something new and amazing, no not really....