Disney’s Aladdin, Live Action Spoiler-Lite Review (Though do I really need to say that. Y’all know the story already.)
Disney’s Live Action Aladdin was everything a fan of the original could have hoped for. It had an Aladdin whom they took the time to make even more lovable, showed how he is even more of a diamond in the rough, and gave him some endearing flaws like social awkwardness in crowds.
Jafar’s backstory ramped up his villainy by giving him motivations beyond “I’m evil and want to rule”, especially by giving him a truly villainous life philosophy in his belief that “You’re either the most powerful person in the room or you’re nothing.” The film also added backstory that Jafar was once a streetrat too, thus making him a better foil for our Aladdin: two men from the same background but look at what they became.
Will Smith as the genie was brilliant, and very Will Smith. He was fun, sarcastic, and got his own story arc beyond just helping Aladdin. You could tell in every scene he was in that he was having fun. He wasn’t Robin Williams, and he didn’t try to be, and I think that’s what helped him pull it off. He didn’t try to fill someone’s shoes, he decided to get new shoes and make the role his own.
But Jasmine. Oh my gosh. This movie made her amazing! Seriously, Jasmine is the best part of this movie. She gets the movie’s new song “Speechless” and if you were looking for the next Disney Girl Power anthem like “Let It Go” from Frozen or “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana then you have it, The song literally left me well...the title of the song. They changed Jasmine’s motivations, and made her a complete badass in the process. Not that she wasn’t badass before, but seriously, this movie upped it so far. Minor Spoiler here, but let’s just say that they ditched that old “If I marry, I want it to be for love.” motivation of hers and replaced it with “Listen, no foreign prince could rule this country better than me, so stop trying to marry me off or shut me up because you can shove those sexist old fashioned laws down your pie hole and make me Sultan.”
The movie was overall incredible. Beautiful choreography right out of a Bollywood musical number, a lot of fun, a lot of heart, and a lot more girl power than I was expecting.
Too Long, didn’t read? then let me make this review shorter for you:
You Go Jasmine! Fight The Patriarchy!