ALADDIN: Why Is Will Smith Here?

Disney has been pumping out their live action remakes since 2010’s Alice In Wonderland, but conversation around these remakes has revved up this year. Perhaps no remake has garnered more attention than Aladdin. With a huge audience that loves the original, an internet meme of blue Will Smith, and poor reactions to the trailers and clips, Aladdin had a lot to live up to.

Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie, is a remake of the beloved 1992 animated Disney film of the same name. It follows street urchin, Aladdin (Mena Massoud), who, with help from an all powerful Genie (Will Smith), attempts to woo Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott)and save the kingdom from being overthrown. Visually, the movie is absolutely beautiful, and features many enjoyable moments. However, Will Smith as the Genie and much of the comedy made this film a little bit cringey and pretty pointless.

Visually Stunning

One of the biggest complements for Aladdin is that Ritchie brought the world of Agrabah to life in a beautiful way. From the Sultan’s palace to the Cave of Wonders, it was clear that the production designers worked harder than anyone else on the crew. The CGI in the movie could have been too much, but considering what they had to do, it was ok.

The costumes in this movie were also beautiful. Jasmine and Aladdin’s outfits nodded to the animated version without looking like Party City Halloween costumes. Jafar’s red and gold looks almost made up for his average portrayal by Marwan Kenzari. Even all of the extras had noticeably fantastic outfits. Hopefully, some of the crew members behind these achievements get recognized when it comes time for award season.

Breakout Stars

If Ritchie had cast a weak actor in the part of Aladdin, this movie would have completely failed. But fortunately for him, Massoud was fantastic. He perfectly captured the charming, confident, but sweet, troublemaker that we know Aladdin to be, without trying to impersonate the animated version. His singing voice and dancing were also impressive, and it seems like he is going to be an actor to watch in the future.

By far the best performance in the entire film was Scott as Princess Jasmine. Not only does she have an incredible singing voice, but she was able to show a large range of emotions, which was a nice edition to the character, who in the animated version is more of a damsel in distress. The film attempts to make Jasmine more of a feminist character, which I did appreciate, but at times it felt a little ham-fisted. The new song they added for her, “Speechless,” with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by La La Land songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, felt a bit on the nose, although she sounded fantastic.

Together, these two actors had fantastic chemistry from the very first moment they meet. Their version of “A Whole New World” was not as magical as the original, but it was still pretty damn magical, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Why Is Will Smith Here?

By far the most jarringly bad part of Aladdin was Will Smith as the Genie. Replacing Robin Williams is no easy task, but they definitely could have found someone better than Smith. The problem is, he’s not a comedian. He is a comedic actor, but he’s not a comedian. What made the Genie so great in the original was the fast timing and quick characters of Williams, and that’s something Smith just can’t pull off. It seems that Smith thinks that just by doing what he always does, he can make people laugh. He’s so himself that it almost would’ve made more sense if Aladdin rubbed the lamp and Smith just came out and said “Hey, I’m Will Smith. What are your three wishes?”

The choices made for Smith’s characterization were also clearly made around his personality and abilities. “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” have been turned into quasi-hip-hop numbers, which just felt strange in the world in which they are performed. If someone like Baz Luhrmann, who has previously mixed time periods together in Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, had directed this, perhaps it could have been integrated more smoothly. Smith‘s dialogue was also very current (who would’ve thought “okurrr” would pop up in Aladdin?), which is how the Genie was in 1992, but in a different way. Those jokes are somewhat timeless, whereas the one’s written here seemed as though out of touch middle-aged people wrote them in an attempt to appeal to the young people of today. In a few years, they’ll probably seem outdated.

Besides Smith, there were many other moments where the comedy they were going for just did not land. When Aladdin first enters the palace as Prince Ali, there’s a drawn out scene of him struggling to act “princely,” that was not funny at all. The filmmakers must have felt it was so hilarious, because they made reference to it several times throughout the film. Nasim Pedrad plays Dalia, Jasmine’s handmaiden and friend, and is supposed to serve as comedic relief. Pedrad herself is a very funny actress, but none of what she was given landed, including a forced relationship with the Genie. Billy Magnussen appears as Prince Anders, a dim-witted possible suitor for Jasmine, who was also supposed to be funny but just was not.

Aladdin: Conclusion

Overall, Aladdin is a fairly harmless film. There are parts that are pretty bad, but if you want to take your kids to see it, you won’t be bored. The film adds very little to the original, and seems like just another cash grab from Disney. Instead of recycling all of their old material, maybe Disney should put more effort into making the great original stories we all know they’re capable of.

What did you think of Aladdin? Let us know in the comments!

Aladdin was released in theaters on May 22, 2019 in the UK and on May 24, 2019 in the US. For all international release dates, see here.