4 Star Rating/****
Disney returns strong with another live action film remaster. We have already seen this new transformation on classics including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and more. Now this time it's director Guy Ritchie's version of Aladdin time to shine!
The film does indeed stay very true to the original animated classic from 1992 with regards to it's plot, so it's actually quite nice to have that childhood nostalgic value to the film while it still brings in a whole new generation to the classic story of street rat to hero! Even though this newly remastered version is very close to the original, there are however a few new little twists and additions too.
The original animation was very well known for certain elements. Let's start with the iconic characters. Aladdin himself is played this time around by Canadian actor (although born in Cairo, Egypt) Mena Massoud. Honestly, he fit the bill perfectly! He looked like the Aladdin that we all know and love, he perfected the same mannerisms, he made us find the character so lovable but most importantly to me he had the voice! There were moments where I had to question whether or not I was actually hearing the original actor's voice who of course was Scott Weinger. Personally I don't think they could have cast anyone better for the leading role!
Let's not forget some of the other likeable characters we grew up with, for instance the feisty Princess Jasmine. For this film our Arabian beauty was brought to life by the very talented British actress Naomi Scott.
Scott is quite well known for her role as Kimberley the pink ranger in the 2017 Power Rangers movie. What I liked about her role in the film is that Scott herself has said that when trying to portray the princess she was trying to reimagine her but with "a more modern twist" which actually worked amazingly well. Director Guy Ritchie also went on to comment saying that "it's a character that you know, but it's a refreshing reincarnation". Honestly, she really did steal the show! I also personally loved that the costume department clearly had an absolute field day when it came to her apparel. Princess Jasmine as far as I am aware has only been known to wear three outfits in the original animation, her iconic blue two piece, a red outfit towards the end of the film and also a purple ensemble to marry Aladdin. Naomi Scott was seen in a huge variety of costumes which were all absolutely stunning, bursting with colour and jewels. Not only did the actress look every bit of a princess, she also performed with the most beautiful vocals while singing. Along with Massoud she performed the classic 'A Whole New World' which worked perfectly with their harmonised tones, but because the production teams were so impressed with her voice they actually wrote and composed a brand new song for the film, just for her to perform. Scott recorded the single 'Speechless' which is a beautiful yet empowering piece of music to show that Jasmine won't go quietly when faced with enemies or a threat to her family or her kingdom of Agrabah. It seems that the song has also become a huge hit with fans of the film.
Now who can forget probably one of the most iconic characters in the film? Of course I mean Aladdin's blue friend, The Genie! Originally the role was voiced by the late great Robin Williams. So when it came to casting the role again there was a lot of pressure to find the perfect actor to fill these huge cinematic shoes. When it was announced that Men In Black and Fresh Prince of Bel Air actor Will Smith was given the final role, many including myself felt a little doubtful about the choice. We know he is a fantastic actor with a flair for comedy roles, but how can he be as good as Williams? After seeing the film, I and many others have been proven very wrong! Why on earth did I ever doubt him I do not know. Smith was almost every bit of the genie that he was expected to be, he was amusing, fun and a great dependant. Most importantly his versions of 'A Friend Like Me' and 'Prince Ali' were also very impressive and have proven a great addition to the film's soundtrack. In this 2019 version of the film we also got to see and extra story line added in just for Genie too.
Now here is my character niggle and also one of the reasons why I cannot award this film a full five star rating (as much as I really want to). Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) is known to be one of the most despicable villains within the history of Disney. A vile being who begins as the sultan's (Navid Negahban) adviser all while trying to over throw him to gain control of the kingdom for himself. In all honesty, I felt that unfortunately the character wasn't portrayed as well as he could have been despite looking every bit of the role. I felt that when he spoke to other characters he didn't come across as intimidating as I would have expected him to. He spoke with a very soft toned voice and other than coming across as a little power hungry, he just doesn't seem 100% right. Whether this was down to the writers of the film or the actor himself I don't know, but it is definitely something that the film could have worked on just a little more to perfect.
The film couldn't leave out other well known characters including Abu (Aladdin's monkey), Iago (Jafar's Parrot), Rajah (Jasmine's tiger) and the Magic Carpet. All were great, however there definitely wasn't enough footage of Abu which was a bit of a let down. Another reason why I wasn't able to give the film a higher rating.
The live action remake was almost everything that I had wanted it to be, there was romance, humour, villains, heroes, it had so much colour, a good display of Arabian culture and diversity, the soundtrack is absolutely amazing and one that I still play often, most of the characters were cast very well and the story is still as lovable as it always has been. In my opinion Aladdin 2019 is the best live action Disney remake to date! It is a film that I cannot wait to bring home upon release and one that I will be happy to watch time and time again.
Watch Naomi Scott Perform new song 'Speechless' here!
See Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott performing 'A Whole New World' in the video below!
(Videos are courtesy of YouTube)
(Images courtesy of Google Images)