Review: Aladdin

Disney hasn't exactly taken heed of the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," especially since their mission to do live action remakes of their animated classics have been tremendously successful for their already overflowing coffers. Remakes in and of themselves are not necessarily a bad thing - it can be well argued that every work, no matter how original it may seem, is, at its heart, a remake for most every thing bears the fingerprints of something else. The best remakes improve upon, subvert, or shed new perspectives, but they can also expose the limitations of using one medium to tell a story originating from another.

Thus, for all the technical wizardry and production value that is in every Disney live action film, there is always an homogenous blandness to the proceedings. Certainly various filmmakers have tried to offset this by more diverse casting or, in recent times, make the heroines into feisty feminists. In that respect, Aladdin definitely ticks the boxes and then some. And yet...the one thing that it has always had going against it, and the one thing it never fully overcomes, is the long and looming shadow cast by Robin Williams, who was pure genius as the Genie in the 1992 animated classic. Ordinary film couldn't contain his rapid-fire improvisational talent; quite frankly, neither could old-school cartooning, but its elasticity allowed animators to keep up.

Will Smith wisely doesn't attempt to match Williams, but one often feels that Smith is trying a touch too hard. As the Genie, he's in comic overdrive, which is his natural gear, but where it felt effortless in previous films, one can sense the strain of the hustle. Which is not to say that he isn't entertaining. If anything, Smith injects an energy to Aladdin that is sorely lacking. The majority of the film is mechanical at best, occasionally given joy by classic songs such as "A Whole New World" and "Prince Ali," both of which remain as irresistible as ever. The latter is given particularly elaborate treatment, the sequence containing everything from women decked out like peacocks to ostriches, monkeys, and an elephant. As rousing and colourful as the number is, it doesn't achieve full lift-off, which could also be said for this rendering of the tale in which a street urchin named Aladdin (Mena Massoud), who finds a magic lamp containing a genie and disguises himself as a prince in order to woo Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott).

Director Guy Ritchie isn't the obvious choice for this material, but he does well enough with it, managing to execute a tamer version of his trademark visual flair and freneticism. Though Massoud is a bit forgettable, Scott is a standout as the princess who wants the opportunity to lead her kingdom. Next appearing alongside Kristen Stewart in Elizabeth Banks' reboot of Charlie's Angels, Scott is commanding and charismatic and easily establishes herself as a star to look out for.

Aladdin

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Written by: John August, Guy Ritchie

Starring: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, Alan Tudyk