In A Self

This “Aladdin” is still the funny-sentimental-inspirational story of a poor kid who comes
into possession of a magic lamp and a magic carpet, summons a big blue genie, and
embarks on a scheme to win the heart of a princess and stop an evil vizier from stealing
the kingdom away from the heroine’s dad. There are at least two potentially good and
somewhat original takes struggling get out of this remake and assert themselves. One is
the story of how the genie bonds with Aladdin and tries to secure his own freedom
without breaking any genie/master rules. The other is about the princess, Jasmine
(Naomi Scott), who’s not merely a spirited feminist who enjoys disguising herself as a
peasant and hanging with the commoners, but seems ready to agitate for representative
democracy if nudged in the right direction. Neither of these is permitted to seize the
spotlight for very long, though. And that’s a shame, because some of the most
compelling (though not top-grossing) “live action” remakes of animated films to come
out of the Disney studios recently have been ones that jumped off from slightly less
beloved titles (like “The Jungle Book,” “Pete’s Dragon,” and “Maleficent,” which retells
“Sleeping Beauty” from the witch’s point of view) and created works that felt more like
companion pieces, even subversions, than remakes.
This sticks to the beaten path so slavishly that when it departs from it, it’s as if the entire
movie had momentarily escaped from bondage, like the genie from his lamp. Will Smith
is the only big star in the cast, so it was probably inevitable that he’d be awarded the
framing device (he’s a mariner telling the story of Aladdin to his two young children).
When he isn’t being asked to re-enact most of the really good lines, jokes and situations
from the 1992 version—which is probably 70% of his screentime—he puts his own stamp
on the role.
But the opportunities are scarce, so when Smith does depart from the sacred text—
mainly during emotional moments, and dialogue-dependent comedy scenes where
Ritchie gets to show off his knack for smart-alecky banter—the moments don’t
accumulate into a distinctive performance. They just sort of hang there, feeling
disconnected from the movie’s reason for existing, which is to draw people into theaters
with the promise of seeing the same thing they already knew they loved, but slightly
different.
Smith’s co-stars run into the same problem. Massoud has a deadpan comic energy that
shines whenever he’s not required to simply re-enact his animated counterpart’s iconic
moments. Ditto Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, who has a fierce dignity and can’t
help it that her big original number—“Speechless,” a song about the silencing of women
by the patriarchy, written by two men, “La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen” composers
Pasek & Paul—feels wedged into the movie like a doorstop. (The motivation for the song,
though, is much more organic, and might’ve felt sincere and powerful rather than
opportunistic had the movie built to it, or better yet, centered the story on her.) Marwan
Kenzari’s performance as the treacherous vizier Jafar departs most strikingly from the
original film. Kenzari tries to create something closer to an antihero than a traditional
bad guy, and although it’s ultimately more of a riff or a vibe than a strong
characterization (the writing lets him down, as it does every character), he’s genuinely
scary in the second half. Little kids will be terrified of him.
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From the opening “Arabian Nights” number to “Friend Like Me,” “A Whole New World”
and beyond, most of the major sequences are the same, although there are a few fresh
twists scattered throughout, particularly during the last half-hour. This “Aladdin” is two
hours and eight minutes long, 37 minutes longer than the original. This is also part of a
trend in theatrical films: perhaps the increasingly long average runtimes of special-
effects driven blockbusters are a response to complaints that tickets are too expensive,
which is actually a way of saying that real wages haven’t risen substantially since the
early 1970s: a longer movie = “getting more for your money” and thus justifies taking
the kids, maybe even buying something at the concession stand.
The filmmaking is disappointingly pedestrian: some long tracking shots stitched
together with CGI, some “dangerous” chase scenes augmented by CGI, some musical
numbers with ostriches and elephants and monkeys and camels, etc, all CGI, and
Smith’s genie whooshing around the frame, his broad and CGI-augmented torso and
shoulders swiveling and bobbing and weaving while trailing a curiously cheap-looking
trail of sparkles. There were early reports that the film was going to address charges of
xenophobia and racism leveled against the original, but there’s not too much evidence
that the filmmakers were really troubling themselves with it.
It’s quite possible that nobody seeing this film will feel that anything has gone missing.
The audience I saw it with at a sneak preview seemed to mildly enjoy it, though it’s
impossible to know in such circumstances if it was really the movie winning them over
or the fact that the tickets were free. Aside from a few jokey buddy-comedy exchanges
between Aladdin and the Genie, most of the bits that seem to work best are imported
from the original.
As is often the case with the recent Disney remakes, this one seems to adhere to the
same misconception that affects the rest of the film industry, particularly where science
fiction adventures, superhero narratives, and fairy tales are concerned: that if it’s
animated, i.e. a “cartoon,” it’s somehow not a “real movie,” and thus not worthy of the
automatic respect bestowed upon the most expensive and heavily promoted motion
pictures, and not as validating to the people who’ve paid to see it. All of which is also
strange, considering how CGI-dependent these sorts of movies are, even when they’re
trying to make the mountains and buildings and tigers and parakeets made of ones and
zeroes look as “real” as possible. “Aladdin” is no more realistic, ultimately, than “Star
Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” which came out 20 years earlier and has
comparably sketchy computer imagery.
This, apparently, is where both audiences and the filmmakers who serve them want the
movie industry to go. Toasters, as far as the eye can see.

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This “Aladdin” is still the funny-sentimental-inspirational story of a poor kid who comes

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