It just does. 'Aladdin', much like the 1992 original animation that it is remaking — and much like Ritchie’s body of work — is flashy, stylized and loud. Under Ritchie’s hand, it’s a fast-moving narrative interspersed with delicately sped up — and slightly choppy — dance routines and foot chases. No, Ritchie doesn’t leave his mark explicitly on the film, but you will feel him in the vibrancy, the volume, and the action.
Visually, the movie looks like it just lost a game of paintball. Which is not a bad thing. There’s color everywhere. Pinks, yellows, and blues burst through in every frame, in a similar vein to the original animation, which took us — and let us just get this one off our chest — to a whole new world. The world of Agrabah.
In an interview, Ritchie calls Agrabah a “sort of multicultural fantasia.” Whether fans will be able to appreciate it for what it is, remains to be seen. But Disney has taken strides to include the Arabic language in subtle moments. You will hear Arabic being spoken in the background of scenes at the market, and you will see some Arabic written in books and across scrolls. Even the pronunciation of certain words will sound, in some small way, more authentic.
Mena Massoud ('Open Heart', 'Jack Ryan') as Aladdin and Naomi Scott ('Lemonade Mouth', 'Life Bites') as Jasmine — both relative newcomers — knocked it out of the park nonetheless. The pair is young and, for the brief time, we’re watching them gallivanting around the world on a magic carpet, totally in love.
Nostalgia runs rampant in the film’s stellar soundtrack. 'Speechless', a new song was written just for Naomi Scott’s Jasmine, was truly her 'Let It Go' moment; the track brims with emotion thanks to Scott’s dedicated performance. But it’s the tried and true classics — 'Arabian Nights', 'Prince Ali', 'A Whole New World' — that will stick themselves to your brain cells and refuse to let up for weeks after. You’ve been warned.
The film does try to update the 1992 version which was not without its flaws. But the changes are most apparent when it comes to Jasmine. Outside of having Raja, a tiger companion, the writers added a female friend in Jasmine’s handmaid, Dalia (Nasim Pedrad), and focused on the Princess’ ambitions as a politician and as a leader, as well as her close relationship with her father, the Sultan (Navid Negahban). Ultimately, Aladdin is a story of young romance that brings people from two different worlds together. But it’s also the story of friendship, family and the bonds that keep us human in the face of corruption. It’s an ode to standing strong in your own light, rather than trying to manufacture a flashier version of you in the noble pursuit of happiness — and in the hopes of being loved back.
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