Over the past decade, we’ve seen a number of popular animated Disney films get a live action re-make. For better or for worse, these live-action re-makes have been pretty popular. So far, we have had The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and a number of interpretations of Snow White. There was also Maleficent, which is actually more of an alternate take on Sleeping Beauty, so in that regard it was actually pretty unique. The first three movies that I mentioned were pretty much straight adaptations of their animated counterparts, the best of which was Beauty and the Beast, in my opinion. The wave of live action re-makes continues with the upcoming films The Lion King and Aladdin. Neither of which I’m particularly excited about as those films were among my favorites when I was younger. I still have a special place in my heart for those films. While The Lion King is looking to be a total CGI-fest, Aladdin is going to feature actual people. I’m usually not one to judge a book by its cover, as sometimes the marketing doesn’t always get it right, but with Aladdin, I’m very concerned.
Let’s start with the casting. It looks like a very solid cast overall. Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, Marwen Kanzari as Jafar, and Mena Massoud as Aladdin. Overall, it definitely looks like the cast belongs in a movie like this, at least in terms of how they should look in a film that takes place in that part of the world. My issue here is Will Smith as the Genie. Make no mistake, I’m a big fan of Will Smith. I think he’s a very talented actor and musician, so the new Aladdin will hopefully take advantage of those talents. The problem is that the Genie is an incredibly iconic character from the animated picture. The reason for that is the late Robin Williams who truly brought the character to life in so many ways and basically made the movie as popular as it was. You can’t top that. What I think is going to happen is that Will Smith is going to have to do his own unique take on the character. I’m interested in seeing how he does it, but I’m very concerned about how the character looks:
With these images being released so early, it’s really hard to gauge how all this is going to fit together in the final film. First impressions are important, and I’m NOT buying the Genie’s look. Granted, it has to be different from the lovable big blue character, particularly with how Will Smith is going to play him, but I’m not getting good vibes here. With the other images that have been released, I’m not buying the look of the film. The costumes and set designs need to look like they are from Persia, or wherever this film is set, but I’m getting Star Wars Prequel vibes from what I’ve been seeing. It all looks like it’s period specific, but it also looks very fake. I don’t know. Again, it’s too early to tell whether or not the film’s going to be any good, and I wish director Guy Ritchie the best of luck here. I’m honestly wondering at what point that Disney will stop with these re-makes, if at all. All it’s going to take is one movie that nobody wants to go see, and Disney may put any future live action re-makes on the chopping block. I want Aladdin to be good. I really do. I’m not the kind of reviewer that wants film-makers to fail. Not at all. But I’m not convinced that the new Aladdin is going to blow people away. If you want your kids to experience some really great Disney films, have them watch the older animated films and not these new ones, they might thank you for it in the long run, and honestly, those older movies are better…..mostly. Ultimately, the new film is going to come down to how Will Smith does as the Genie. That’s the character that people are going to be looking at with a microscope.