265. Aladdin; movie review

ALADDIN
Cert PG
128 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild fantasy threat

"A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view", goes the song but these 'real-life Disney re-boots, aren't either, are they?
Indeed, they have very firm foundations in the original animation.
Which prompts the question, what's the point? The 1992 version of Aladdin was one of the finest movies of all time, known particularly for the brilliant voicework and unique improvisation of Robin Williams.
Poor Will Smith could have turned the heads of the Academy Award judges and he would have still come up short.
In this updated Aladdin, Smith plays the genie, who emerges after his lamp is rubbed by the famous title character, played by Mena Massoud.
The latter's lively Aladdin sees the genie as a way of attracting the beautiful Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) who is confined to the palace of her father, the sultan (Navid Negahban).
Meanwhile, Marwan Kenzari portrays Jafar, the villain who wants to be the head of the beautiful city of Agrabah.
Of course, this is Aladdin, so there are great songs, super special effects and the genie is larger than life.
I was impressed by the impishness of Massoud and Scott's audience allure and singing in her breakout role.
But Jafar was much less threatening than he had been in the 1992 movie where his presence prompted young children to hide behind the sofa.
And I kept going back to genie comparisons. Smith's singing is ok but his voice doesn't have the resonance of great Disney warblers such as Phil Harris and he just doesn't have the charisma of the cartoon version, voiced so brilliantly by Williams.
In his and director's Guy Ritchie's defence, if I had not have seen the animated Aladdin, I would probably have been raving over this one.
But I have and, consequently, I just kept longing to turn the clock back.

Reasons to watch: The lure of Aladdin
Reasons to avoid: Just doesn't match the 1992 classic

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Aladdin is a folk tale of Middle Eastern origin. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights) and one of the best known— despite not being part of the original Arabic text. 

The final word. Guy Ritchie: "It needs to feel fresh, right? You don’t want to just watch it frame for frame. But what you do need is to know that it’s essentially, actually more than essentially, loyal to the original.”

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