Disney’s Live Action Aladdin is a Musical…In Case You Didn’t Know
Aladin Review
I hate musicals. I especially hate musicals where all that singing and dancing does little to nothing to move the story forward. I can’t help that it drives me nuts that people start singing and dancing (sometimes in the middle of nowhere) and all of a sudden a disembodied full blown orchestra stats accompanying the singers. It was probably a really bad idea to have me be the one to review Disney’s live action remake of the beloved animated version of Aladdin.
For some reason I’m more inclined to tolerate the musicals when they’re Disney’s animated features, and the 1992 Robin Williams vehicle…well, had Robin Williams. Don’t get me wrong, I like Will Smith plenty but going into this Guy Ritchie directed (Guy Ritchie, seriously?) live action version I had a hard time imagining that Smith could outdo or add something new and fresh to the genie from the animated film. These disclosures are to admit upfront that I carried a lot of baggage going in to see Aladdin. Did I mention I hate musicals?
One of the cool things about Disney’s animated version is how well the animators did in capturing the essence of Robin Williams. It’s kind of dumb to get all impressed at how Guy Ritchie and the make up designer that painted Will Smith blue captured the essence of Smith. In fact as the film begins, it appears as if Will Smith is struggling to capture the essence of Will Smith. It takes all of a micro-minute before the film bursts out into song and Smith is okay as a singer but he sure does look awkward.
I’m also probably quibbling too much when I mention that Smith doesn’t even try to present an appropriate accent. Oddly, neither does Mena Massoud (who plays Aladdin) who was born in Cairo, but moved with his parents to Canada where he was raised but sounds like an American. Same goes for Naomi Scott, who is British born but sounds like an American as Jasmine. This wouldn’t be so bad if Jasmine’s father, played by Navid Negabahn (The Shadow King of Legion) didn’t speak with a Persian accent. Same with Marwin Kensari who may look Tunisian (because he is) but was born in the Netherlands yet manages to speak in an role appropriate accent…but his parrot doesn’t.
See what I’m saying? Not only is Aladdin a live action musical remake of a cartoon, but Persian characters either speak with Persian accents or American accents depending upon the actor. I mean, maybe Negabahn and Kensari’s American accents are lame and Guy Ritchie was all; “Just do your own accents and drop that lame American thing.” Who knows?
Another thing is the talking parrot. This isn’t just a parrot parroting stuff. This is parrot that spies for Jafar the evil wannabe usurper. I don’t really have a problem with a parrot who belongs to a sorcerer (yeah, Jafar’s a sorcerer too) being able to speak, but why not Abu the monkey friend of Aladdin? I mean, why not, right? Or, why have Jasmine’s tiger talking? I mean it’s a Disney property for crying out loud! Maybe if the monkey, tiger and parrot were singing and dancing I wouldn’t have minded having to sit through the musical numbers. Probably not but a critic can dream.
Anyway, the songs kept coming at a machine gun pace but Will Smith started to find his footing and some of that essence of Will Smith and both Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott are very charming and it starts to occur to me that I’m being idiot for getting all critical about a story about Arabian Nights and street urchins who find a genie in a lamp being done as a musical. It’s a fantasy after all. Why can’t a story about a genie be a musical too? And the songs aren’t so bad.
I still don’t get why Guy Ritchie and I can’t help but suspect through the entire pre-production, production and post-production he kept asking; “Why me?” There’s always a chance he had more reason’s than a nice paycheck, it’s just that (like a few of his big budget films) he directs this film devoid of his own frenetic style. That style just might have brought a fresh interpretation to a long beloved tale of Arabian Nights. Aladdin, however, is more generic even if it has some impressive special effects.
By the end of the movie I wasn’t as resentful as I was walking in to the movie and credit probably goes to the movie itself which (did I tell you it’s a musical) despite that musical thing is not nearly as bad as I wanted it to be. That damned Disney does it again! No film studio does corporatized charm quite like Disney does it. Good for them, and for you? Well, there are way worse movies that you could waste your time watching than Aladdin. Besides, it’s a fantasy. Just enjoy it.