On 13 June 2019, I visited my local cinema to see the brand-new 'live-action' (i.e. heavily CGI-augmented) version of Disney's much-loved 1990s animated film Aladdin, and wow! Now that's what I call a fantasy movie!
I've made no secret of the fact that with the major exception of 2016's The Jungle Book, I'm not a great fan of Disney's modern-day trend of remaking its classic animated movies as live-action/CGI ones - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, that's my mantra. But I am happy to eat my metaphorical hat with this new Aladdin – or, as Chris Pratt would have said if he'd been in it (which he wasn't), R-some!!
Directed (and also co-written) by none other than Britain's very own Guy Ritchie (an unexpected but very successful choice), Aladdin 2019-style is visually stunning and dazzlingly colourful throughout, with newcomer Mena Massoud as Aladdin so close to his original cartoon counterpart in both looks and behaviour that it's almost as if the former had physically come to life. In contrast, the better-known Naomi Scott is a somewhat more imperious Princess Jasmine than her own cartoon facsimile.
However, the star of this movie is, without question, Will Smith as the Genie. The late, great Robin Williams's voicing and irrepressible ad-libbing of this character in the cartoon version was such a stupendous tour-de-force that anyone attempting to duplicate it was doomed to fail miserably. Consequently, Will has wisely reimagined and reinvented the character in his own very different but equally unique, inimitable manner, to yield a rather more streetwise genie but one that is every bit as hip, loyal, OTT, and loveable as the original.
Bearing in mind that this new Aladdin movie is over 2 hours long, several additional scenes and a major new song have been added, but the main story is much the same, and is absolutely mesmerising to watch, blending live-action and CGI seamlessly to create a spectacle of truly fantastical proportion. Aladdin, the 2019 Disney version, is the best movie of its genre that I have seen in a VERY long time!!
Pedants' Corner – Yes, I did notice that despite this film being set in the Middle East, Iago is a South American macaw and Abu a South American capuchin monkey, but who's going to quibble about zoogeographical anomalies when the star of the show is a giant blue genie with unlimited magical powers?? It's a FANTASY movie, folks!
Incidentally, there are also plans for both a sequel and a prequel to this Aladdin film, and even a spin-off featuring Prince Anders, Aladdin's ultimately unsuccessful rival for the hand of Princess Jasmine - a veritable Aladdin franchise, methinks!
Be sure to click here to view a thrilling trailer for this truly sensational spectacle of a film that will take you on an enchanted flight of fantasy that even Aladdin's very own magic carpet would find difficult to simulate!
And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!
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