Aladdin

          Aladdin is the next entry in Disney's live-action remake filmography and stars Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, and Marwan Kenzari. If you are familiar with the plot of the original cartoon then you already know what the movie is about. Aladdin (Massoud) lives on the streets of Agrabah and happens to run into Princess Jasmine (Scott) herself. She is disguised so Aladdin doesn't know who she is at first, but he knows that she lives in the palace. Aladdin becomes infatuated with her and, after an attempt to sneak into her bedroom, is captured by the palace guards. Jafar enlists Aladdin's help in acquiring a magic lamp from a deadly cave and, you know what, you already know what happens. 

          So far, I've pretty much enjoyed every single live-action remake Disney has done. Not all of them are great, but none of them have been incredibly bad. I don't know if this film is included in the filmography, but the live-action sequel, Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass is probably my least favorite. On the other end of the spectrum, The Jungle Book is, in my opinion, the best one so far. Now, where does Aladdin fall on my own spectrum? That is, assuming that you view my reviews with any amount of credibility. For me, Aladdin falls in the middle. Let me explain.

          I'm going to start with the things that I liked about the film. First off, the technical aspect. The costume design and production design are gorgeous. The colors are extremely vibrant when juxtaposed with a desert backdrop. They didn't hold back on trying to make the city and the palace look good. I'm not commenting on the CGI, however, that will come later. The music is also really good. If you're a nostalgic type of person then you'll most likely enjoy the remixed versions of all the classics as well as the new numbers they included. Personally, my favorites were when Jasmine was singing by herself. Overall, the movie really finds a soul in the numbers. Of course, I can't leave out Will Smith. He was the best casting choice for the Genie and he brings most of the charisma and charm the movie has. 

          The boasts some good performances and technical splendor, but it has quite a few shortcomings. Since we're still on the topic of casting, I'll go ahead and say that the casting choice for Jafar wasn't the best. He's not bad, but he doesn't exactly cast a presence in the film. I wanted him to be more characterized like the cartoon, but he's downgraded to a stereotypical villain with almost zero personality. 

          As much as I liked the technical side of the film, I felt as though none of it was shot that well. What I mean is, the cinematography isn't that great which sucks because what's on the screen is fantastic. All the colors and the sets could've looked way more impressive. Also, despite what I said earlier about great production design, it's negatively contrasted with mediocre CGI. Especially towards the end when Jafar tries too hard to be all powerful.

          This last critique might be a bit hard to explain. Once Smith's Genie character is introduced, the film finds charm and a personality, but until it gets there, the film falls flat of anything spectacular. It felt like I was watching a high school stage production until that point. This somewhat carries over into the rest of the movie. What makes the movie feel this way for me is the poor cinematography and the acting. None of the acting is terrible, but a lot of it felt like how you would imagine acting to be at your local musical theater company. It doesn't translate that well to the big screen, at least, for me it didn't.

          If you recall back to my plot description in the first paragraph, you'll see that I didn't bother to explain some of the major details. That's because this movie is almost exactly like the cartoon. For me, this is a problem. I understand that the goal of these live-action remakes is to bring the classics of an old era to a new generation, but if all a remake is going to do is exactly that, then why bother creating it? I could've just watched the cartoon at home instead of paying ten dollars for admission. I could've seen a high school production and it would've been a similar experience to what I saw last night. There are some new songs and some new, albeit minute, new details, but they don't counter the lack of originality. This is why I like The Jungle Book so much. Don't hate me, but it's also why I take guilty pleasure in enjoying Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent. Even if they weren't that great, they at least attempted to take classic stories and turn them into something new or give them a fresh perspective. Aladdin doesn't do this.

          Overall, the movie, with its many shortcomings, doesn't fall flat nor does it exceed anything grand. It's neither good nor bad. All the good stuff is negated by the not-so-great qualities to the point that a weird and boring equilibrium is created. It's in the middle. If you're a nostalgic type of movie-goer then this film will hit all the right spots for you and you'll have a wonderful time. If you're not that person and you're looking for something more to your Disney experience then I'm not sure that this film will meet your expectations. Critics are pretty split on this one and, no surprise, I'm leaning towards "rotten" territory. I still enjoyed it, but I also enjoyed the cartoon and I'm not sure I can justify seeing the movie in a theater when they're both dangerously similar. 5.5/10