Visuals/Costumes: In the past, the Disney live-action remakes, for the most part, have had some great visuals and costumes, and this one is no exception. In particular, I liked all of the outfits that they gave to Jasmine in this film and was glad that they were more covered up compared to her animated counterpart (same goes for Aladdin’s ‘street rat’ costume). My personal favorites were the pink dress that she wore when she was meeting Prince Anders (loved how it sparkled in the movie when she was coming down the stairs), what was supposed to be her blue outfit from the 1992 film (favorite parts of it were the hair accessories and the peacock feather details) and her finale dress. Jafar also had some pretty great costumes throughout the film, and I enjoyed his two costume changes when he went from vizier to Sultan to sorcerer (along with how a snake came from under the throne to become his new staff). I also liked how the palace, streets of Agrabah and all of the musical numbers looked (I’ll talk more about that when I get to the song section). However, while this film does have some pretty great visuals, they aren’t always perfect. First of all, while I did like all of the treasure that was shown in the Cave of Wonders and that the lamp was in the same area as everything else rather than having its own separate room that also inconveniently had a giant ruby on display, I wish that the background was less blue and not as dark. Speaking of everything in the Cave of Wonders, I feel like the CGI for the magic carpet wasn’t the best and was probably some of the worst CGI in the film. The last critique for the visuals is the ends of the earth that comes near the climax of the movie. When Aladdin is just walking around trying to find Abu, it looks kind of weird, in my opinion, and it seemed like the characters didn’t look like they were actually there. But even with those problems, that doesn’t stop this remake from having stunning visuals throughout.
Characters and Performances: When creating a new version of a famous Disney movie with well-known characters that many generations know of, you need to choose the right actors to bring them to life on the big-screen. So did they succeed? Well, for the most part.
Aladdin: I found it kind of interesting how he was more awkward in this version while his animated counterpart seemed more smooth talking (when he was meeting the Sultan in the new version it kind of reminded me of something that would happen to Hiccup from the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ franchise in his younger years). This also might just be me, but it seemed like the young ladies were more attracted to him in both of his identities, which I also thought was kind of interesting. I did like that we were able to see that he wanted to tell Jasmine and her father the truth before the Sultan told him what would happen after the marriage and the addition of the second ‘One Jump Ahead’ reprise, which I’ll talk more about when I get to the song category. I also liked how the fact he was a pickpocketer, which I’ll talk about more later. I overall enjoyed the title character and thought that Mena Massoud was a great choice to portray the handsome and kind-hearted street rat (LOL he might be becoming my new celebrity crush).
Jasmine: I think it would be pretty hard to talk about things I liked more in this version without bringing up Jasmine. I admired her desire to rule Agrabah because she believed that she could make it a better place and how she was more prominent during Prince Ali’s entrance and when he was introducing himself to her father. I was also happy that Jasmine wasn’t yelling at Aladdin when she found out the truth, especially because she lied to him about her identity in the marketplace. I also enjoyed how she had more screen time and had a new song. One of my favorite moments with her however might have been (SPOILERS FOR ENDING) after Jafar becomes Sultan, she gives a speech to Hakim (one of the palace guards) telling him that he could either serve the new Sultan and watch Agrabah be destroyed or stand with the citizens of Agrabah (END OF SPOILERS FOR NOW). Of the changes made to the live-action remake, Jasmine’s character was one of my favorites.
Genie: Of course, along with Aladdin and Jasmine, you can’t get away with talking about the tale of Aladdin without bringing up the Genie. In the 1992 film, the best way to describe the Genie is Robin Williams playing Robin Williams as a genie, and it seems like the new movie is following in a similar fashion where the Genie is pretty much Will Smith being Will Smith as a genie. While I wouldn’t say that the new Genie is as funny as the original, Will Smith was still an enjoyable genie. I assume it’s also safe to say that it was best to take the Genie in this direction. Something else that I liked in this version was that when Genie was free at the end, (SPOILERS) rather than staying a genie, he became a human (END OF SPOILERS FOR NOW). I also enjoyed the addition of the line he tells Aladdin at the dance,’ I made you look like a prince on the outside, but I didn’t change anything on the inside. Prince Ali got you to the door, but Aladdin has to open it.’
Jafar: So now that we’ve talked about the three main good guys in this movie (all of which were very well cast in my opinion), we move to the element I am most mixed about when it comes to this movie, Jafar. Like most people, I assume, I wish that he was less monotone and more menacing (I also would have preferred that he looked a little older compared to Aladdin and Jasmine). However, when it comes to him written-wise, I love how they gave him a backstory. This reveals that (SPOILERS FOR JAFAR’S BACKSTORY) he spent five years in jail in Shirabad (which is the country that Jasmine’s mother came from) and was once a common thief that had and still can pickpocket (like Aladdin and END OF SPOILERS FOR NOW). I also liked how his betrayal at the Cave of Wonders went, that he attempted to hypnotize Aladdin when he was Prince Ali, and he was the one that tossed Aladdin into the sea. I also found it pretty neat how they were trying to make Jafar seem like what Aladdin could become if he weren’t careful.
Dalia: Along with the characters that appeared in the original, we were given someone new to the main bunch, Dalia, who is Jasmine’s handmaiden and human friend. I personally really liked Dalia, thought she was quite enjoyable and glad that they gave this movie another named female character. I also really enjoyed her scenes with Jasmine and their relationship with each other and my favorite moment with her was after Aladdin had snuck into the palace still believing that Jasmine was the handmaiden, so she and Dalia had to pretend to be each other.
Sidekicks: Similar to the Genie, you can’t really have a Disney version of Aladdin without the animal sidekicks, Iago, Abu and Rajah, and the magic carpet. Overall, my opinion on them ranges depending on who you’re talking about. While Iago definitely was one of the most significant downgrades in the film, Abu keeps a decent bit of his charm from the animated movie. I particularly liked when Genie questions him about Aladdin and Jasmine’s relationship and how he helped save Aladdin’s life when Jafar tried to drown him. Similar things can be said about the carpet where it also has some pretty enjoyable moments and keeps the charm from the animated movie (I found it quite funny how it made the Cinderella castle out of sand once it, Aladdin, Genie, and Abu were out of the Cave of Wonders). As for Jasmine’s pet tiger, Rajah, he ranges more in the middle where he wasn’t as good as the carpet and Abu, but he was better than Iago. He was still a good tiger, and I really liked his interactions with Aladdin whether he was a street rat or a prince.
Songs: Similar to the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, they kept all of the songs from the animated classic while adding some new ones to the mix. We open with a mariner and his family on a boat that ultimately leads us into ‘Arabian Nights’ which I think sounded and looked great. So far, so good for the movie. After meeting Aladdin, Abu, and Jasmine in disguise, they are chased by some of the guards and after doing some pretty impressive and mildly intense action moves in an ally (at least according to my older sister) Aladdin begins ‘One Jump Ahead.’ In my opinion, this was another fun musical number that also sounded great, and I think it did an excellent job of having Jasmine be a part of it. I liked the mini scene after the line ‘Otherwise we’d get along,’ where Aladdin and Jasmine need to jump from one building to another (particularly when Jasmine lands on top of him after letting go of the pole and he compliments her). Next up is the first reprise of ‘OJA.’ This (along with the second reprise) is definitely where Mena Massoud’s vocals are the weakest but I definitely wouldn’t call it bad by any means.
Now we move to the first part of the new song written for this movie, ‘Speechless.’ Like I mentioned earlier, I was happy that they gave Jasmine her own solo song, especially since the only times she sang in the animated movie was during ‘A Whole New World.’ I feel like this gave her character more depth and is an excellent lead up to the second part, which I’ll talk more about later. The next day, while Aladdin is now trapped with only a magic carpet, his monkey friend and a giant blue genie that he had just awaken. Trying to explain to Aladdin about who he is, the Genie turns Abu into a ‘one-monkey band’ as you could probably call it and sings a couple of lines from ‘Friend Like Me’ and that’s all. For now. Don’t worry for those of you who love this song, he does a full version of this afterward that ends with a pretty fun bit of dialogue after it’s over. “How does it work?” “The whole song was the instructions! Apparently, you can’t dance and listen at the same time.” However, this is only one of two fun Genie songs in this film. After turning Aladdin into Prince Ali, he also creates an entire entourage for his master and leads them into Agrabah and a grand musical number introducing Prince Ali of Ababwa. I loved all of the bright colors that were shown in this scene and liked all of the girls that were dying to be noticed by the new prince. Also, something else about the character of Prince Ali that I liked is how they address that Ababwa is where he comes from and not his last name (at least that’s what Ababwa sounds like it’s supposed to be in the animated version in my opinion). Now we come up to what is arguably the most popular song from the renaissance film, the romantic duet between Aladdin and Jasmine, ‘A Whole New World.’ While I wouldn’t say that vocals or visuals were as good as the ones from the animated movie, I loved this scene and thought that Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott sounded great here (some of the first lines from Aladdin in the remake kind of resembled his animated counterpart’s opening lines from this song in my opinion). I also thought it was so cute how after the song when they’re watching the people celebrate Jasmine’s shoulders were being covered by Aladdin’s/Ali’s jacket. We now come across a new additional reprise of ’OJA’ which happens after the argument between Aladdin and Genie. Aladdin and Abu go back to their old home in the marketplace where Aladdin re realizes that he has to tell the truth about his identity to Jasmine and the Sultan even if it means that he has to go back to living as a street rat which I thought was a nice addition. Finally, we come to the final song in the movie, the second part of ’Speechless.’ I loved the build-up to the song where Jasmine is feeling defeated by Jafar and is told to be taken away by the guards. Naomi Scott sounds fantastic here, and I like how it leads to the speech she gives when the song is over. All in all, the songs here were tremendous and definitely lived up to its animated predecessor.
Miscellaneous: Okay, now this is the part where I talk about different parts of the film that I liked or disliked but felt like they didn’t fit in with the other categories. So, let’s get into it. I loved how they talked about Jasmine’s mother more and how Jasmine wanted to make Agrabah the way it was before she was killed. The little joke with the ’make me a prince’ scene was a brilliant way of foreshadowing for later events in the film. Finally, I loved how (SPOILERS) they connected the narrator that we see at the beginning of the movie with the Genie more (END OF SPOILERS).
Final Thoughts and Recommendation: I hope that at least some of you are still here now because if you are, congratulations! You made it through the first review that I posted here that was probably more than six pages long. Anyway, overall, I enjoyed watching this film and have more that I would like to talk about, but this has already gone on long enough. However, if you have a question about my opinion on this movie that you didn’t think was answered in the review, feel free to leave me a comment on this review or my profile page. As for my recommendations, I would say see it if you want to and skip it if you're uninterested because of my knowledge of how these live-action remakes can get such mixed reviews when it comes from person to person. But if you’re unsure about whether to see it or not, I would recommend this to those who are in the mood for a romantic comedy with a good bit of action and music. Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I might see you if I ever want to write another article after the intense and somewhat tricky work that was put into this.
This was actually one of the pages I was using to take notes on after the movie was over. Pretty hard to write in the dark.
Where in Paris are you? Cinderella???
