"Aladdin" (2019) directed by Guy Ritchie with Will Smith starring in the role of the Genie, retells the story of a mischievous street urchin, Aladdin (Mena Massoud) who lives in a fictional Arabian port city of Agrabah together with his kleptomaniac monkey.
Princess Jasmin is the only child of the Sultan, yet she cannot be the ruler of her country, nor marry the man of her choice. We soon learn that she is forced to stay in the palace that's why she has to disguise herself to sneak into the marketplace.
Aladdin goes up against Sultan's Grand Vizier, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari), once a street urchin too, who aims to steal the kingdom away from the Sultan, Jasmine's Dad.
Aladdin gets hold of the magic oil lamp that unleashes the powerful, wisecracking, blue-skinned Genie, and embarks on a scheme to win the heart of the princess and stop the malicious vizier, Jafar together with the magic carpet, the monkey Abu and the Genie.
This "Aladdin" features the main memorable musical pieces from the original, namely "Prince Ali", "Friend Like Me" and the Oscar-winning "A Whole New World".
It also includes some hip-hop flourishes performed by Will Smith and a new song "Speechless" sung by Princess Jasmine that reminds of "Let it Go" from "Frozen".
Though there are many who will find weaknesses in this film, especially in the weak performance of Jafar, you can't deny that the live-action remake has lots of fun and charming moments with chases, falls and near deaths.
While Robin Williams' fans will find the huge, blue-skinned, genie weird, others will admire the amazing job of Will Smith in the making of the Genie.
The musical remake, thanks to its main characters and the comedic Genie, keeps the spirit of the original, and is as funny, sentimental and inspirational. Add a boost of female empowerment to the messages of honesty, friendship, courage, and integrity and you can't resist the temptation to give it a watch.
What about you?
Have you seen "Aladdin" (2019), and what are your thoughts on it?
I would be delighted to read about them in the comments box below.
Ugh, I want to see this so bad! I am prepared to love Will Smith as the Genie, and it looks like they did well with casting. It's sad that Jafar isn't great, but it sounds like they upped the empowerment for Jasmine, so that's great.
ReplyDeleteWrite to me about your impressions once you have watched it:)
ReplyDeleteI went to see Aladdin on Wednesday and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It doesn't have the same magic as the classic and ofc it would never be as good, but it was well done. Some parts were hella cheesey for me and I think Jasmine played her part better than Aladdin, but overall I liked the film. Jafar was weak and I liked Will Smith as the genie as he brought something new to the role :)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you, thank you for sharing with your impressions and your valuable feedback!
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