Movies Aladdin (2019) Trailer and Discussion Thread

[Joestradamus]

Watched it with my wife yesterday and we both came out happy with it. She loved it, I liked it. I found it fun and entertaining, even though it was little cringey at times. Definitely not 100% sold on the singing. I went in knowing it was rating low on RT so not sure if my lowered expectations helped me like the movie... overall I liked it. Oh yeah, Jafar was just annoying to me, bad casting? 

[TwinIon]

Aladdin is an indictment of the entire enterprise of remaking animated films in live action, even as individual elements manage to shine through. At its best, we see a charismatic Aladdin make a meaningful connection with a newly empowered Jasmine, or pal around with an authentically Will Smith genie. At its worst, we see a horrific CG Will Smith do a poor impression of the incomparable Robin Williams, or a live action Jafar fail to live up to the menace of his goofy animated counterpart.

 

At almost every turn, when the remake is allowed to be its own creation, not remaking exact shots or comedic beats, it's actually quite good. The production design feels both fantastic and grounded in real cultures, the increased emphasis on Jasmine pays off in raised emotional stakes and in increasing the depth of her character. Even the scenes that are direct remakes that don't exactly mirror the animation have a real life to their own that makes the remake feel like a worthwhile endeavor.

 

Then there are the all too numerous occasions where the film is just a poor imitation of a classic. Comedy that doesn't work without animation, magic that feels too out of place in the flesh. Will Smith is a pretty good genie, and a very poor Robin Williams. Jafar too felt out of place throughout the film. Whether the result of poor acting, casting, or simply being a character that doesn't translate well, the result is that it diminishes the film as a whole.

 

 

Overall, the film is perfectly competent, and in the absence of its source material it might garner some more heavy praise. It's just too often unable to escape the shadow of its predecessor, even for someone that hasn't seen the original since it was on VHS.

 

[EternallDarkness]

saw it this afternoon and I have to say I was not impressed. Costume design was great, and the girl who played Jasmine could at least sing, but damn did Will Smith suck as the genie. He sounded horrible. He sounded like a pale washed out impressive of Robin, insulting really. He isn't Robin Williams and shouldn't have even tried. The way he approached or was made to approach the role was horrible. He should have made the character his own. 

[SuperSpreader]

[Jason]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:52 PM, Greatoneshere said:

Also nice to see a film with an almost exclusively all Middle Eastern/brown cast do well in Trump's America, even if it is couched in the original film's orientalism othering done by Europeans (even though I like the original Aladdin a lot). I thought on that premise alone this thing would get review bombed by the alt-right but thankfully no.

 

tfw when you hate brown people but Jasmine gives you a really confusing boner

[Remarkableriots]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:48 PM, sblfilms said:

My polling of my customers has the response as VERY positive. Not just that they liked it generally, but how well they liked it. Disney certainly got what audiences wanted out of this thing. Glad for Guy Ritchie to get a financial win after the King Arthur flop.

All the customers I've talked to who watched the movie have recommended watching it and really enjoyed it.

[EternallDarkness]

I have to say as someone who is a certified Disney nut, I have been pretty much disappointed with almost all of these live action remakes. The only one I really enjoyed was The Jungle Book....and of the funny thing there is that there was only a single real character in the entire movie. But I keep holding out hope with each new movie. I know there was a fairly large uproar (at least in certain Disney circles) when it come out that much of Mulan's story will be changed, but I'm actually hopeful because of that. All these remakes have been very pale reflections of the original. I think a reimagining of the story may be more to my liking. Most of the live action remakes have just been almost shot for shot remakes of the animated features with one or two new scenes/songs thrown in. (I did like the new song they gave Jasmine in Aladdin...probably the best part of the movie, lol)  To me the remakes have felt like high school kids putting on the production of a broadway show. You have one or two people who come across as having the chops (in Aladdin's case it was the girl who played Jasmine) and everyone else is just faking it.