Come on, guys… you didn’t have to make it Muslim or Hindu if you didn’t want to choose one, but at least don’t make it so blatantly Christian when you have a chance to bring some diversity to the Princesses’ religions.) (The only strange thing that stuck out to me was the suspiciously Christian wedding between Jasmine and Jafar.
There are wonderful nods to Bollywood in three different dance scenes, which themselves make the show stand out among all other Disney live-action films.įinally, we get to see a western movie truly love Middle-Eastern and South Asian cultural elements, and pay them the attention they deserve. No longer are all the women dressed as belly-dancers - instead, we have beautiful bejeweled veils, and dresses that more accurately reflect the clothes women from a similar time in history would wear. Well, at least as accurate as any Disney-fied moment in history, in a land that is a conflation of many different countries, can be. This Agrabah is colorful, it’s racially diverse, and it’s accurate.
Instead, it presented a beautiful look into a Middle-Eastern market full of spices and fruit, streets full of people in beautiful clothes, and a palace with exquisite architecture… and it was breathtaking. They completely redid the introduction, having the now-human Genie start the film with the introductory song in a fashion that was very similar to the cartoon – but that said “It’s chaotic, but hey, it’s home”… and, unlike the original, was followed by a sequence that completely avoided caricatures. I liked it fine, but it mostly just made me want to watch the original again.Deep down, I think I was hoping that they’d do away with the line altogether, but the writers did exactly the right thing. The result is a movie that's not bad, but never truly great either. And that feels like a lot of the movie, they try to meet in the middle. I'd say either go all in, or cut the songs entirely, but instead they try to meet in the middle. There are exceptions, like "Friend Like Me", but for the most part this is the standard. The Prince Ali segment desperately wants to be a big Bollywood number, but just looks like someone filmed a pretty good parade. It's not as fun/funny as the animated film, and it doesn't have the flair or energy of a Bollywood film. In the "One Jump" sequence, a lot of stuff is happening, but it sort of feels like they're all going through the motions. It's sort of doing a Bollywood thing, and while it's got all the flair it just lacks the energy and passion.
Then there's the things the movie tried that just didn't quite work, namely its music. Did every beat hit for him? Will he ever replace Williams? No to both, but he was good enough for what the movie needed. I was ready to hate him, but he was charming and funny. It's different than Robin Williams, but it has to be. The movie really comes alive when he shows up. As for Will Smith's genie, honestly he surprised the hell out of me. I don't know how much of this was a real set and how much was CGI, but it really feels like a living breathing world that you could walk around in.
I also like the look and set design of Agrabah. I like that Jasmine is a little more fleshed out, and Naomi Scott is absolutely bringing everything she can to this role. Still, there were some things I liked, even some changes I liked. A lot's been said about him, so I won't pile on, but holy god talk about miscasting, he was awful. They make some weird changes for the worse here (especially in the climax) that just don't help the story, and despite being longer it weirdly rushes through some classic moments in a Cliff Notes fashion. It's not bad, it's enjoyable for what it is, but at the end of the day if I want Aladdin I'll probably just go back to the original. It's still an interesting experiment in itself.
It's a bit up-and-down, but often it feels like, at best, a pretty good stage production of the classic film where I'd usually rather be watching that film.