Alladin (Blu-ray + 4K UHD)

Okay, time for another episode of remake or original? Ritchie’s live action adaptation of my all time favorite childhood animated film (tied with The Lion King of course 😁) was one I expected to be disappointed with given his recent inconsistencies. I was pleasantly surprised I wasn’t! This film was pretty mixed by the Disney fandom, but I was surprised to have enjoyed it. I’ll admit there was definitely the ever present sensation of déjà vu that hung over pretty much the entire film, but it really didn’t bother me. The film was garish, glitzy, and so SOOOOO colorful, and I absolutely loved it. My mouth was hanging open half of the runtime just staring at all of the gorgeous shades of color in every imaginable hue. The world building, set design, there was an incredible amount of work put into bringing Agrabah to vibrant life, and it shows. The film is pretty much a shot for shot remake (again bringing that uncomfortable question of why? to the forefront), but again, I was okay with it. The performances were... mixed. Aladdin was serviceable, and although it seemed Mena Massoud was attempting to draw from the animated films depiction of Aladdin, and just found it didn’t quite stick the landing. He lacks some basic charisma and I found myself lightly wincing for some of the classic lines he delivered. I also had huge issues with the radically different, but mostly ineffective Jafar. The changes made were all pointless, and Marwan Kanzari was just flat out mediocre. His Jafar was hammy and silly, and it wasn’t just the writing. Naomi Scott was the highlight, breathing refreshing life into Jasmine, with super catchy new song of her own. Lastly we have Will Smith’s genie. He really did do everything he possibly could. Although it was in essence the Fresh Prince of Bel Genie, I think he did an okay job, despite specter of the great Robin Williams was hanging over the entire proceedings. This was far from a necessary remake, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The original? CLASSIC. Enough said!