‘Aladdin (2019)’ A Blast From the Past with Lies Too Good to Last

     Disney Animation has many classic films under their belt that help shape Animation to be the expressive and meaningful media it is today. One of their most popular films ever is hands down their adaptation of the Arabian story, Aladdin. Aladdin is a movie filled with so much energy and fun along with having a tight story, exuberant animation, a lovely soundtrack and one of the finest vocal performances ever heard in the form of Robin Williams as the Genie. With such an iconic film under their belt, it would seem somewhat disrespectful for the talent that worked on the film if the studio decides to remake this particular version of Aladdin into a live action remake claiming it’s better than the original. The bad news is, they have, as now we finally lay our eyes on another Disney live action remake, the worse news, it is pretty terrible even considering how bad the live action adaptations of Disney Animated films have been. Aladdin 2019 is nothing more than a boring soulless cash grab with very little of the heart that made the original such a delight to watch and certainly is not a diamond in the rough when compared to the other Mediocre at Best Disney remakes.

Retelling with No Punch or Pizzazz

     The 2019 version of Aladdin on the surface doesn’t have too much different to it from a story perspective, being about a thief named Aladdin who falls in love with the Princess of the Arabian city of Agrabah, Jasmine. When trying to win his affection for Jasmine by doing deeds for an Evil Sorcerer Jafar, he comes across a magic lamp with a Genie that could help him on his path to have a happy life with Princess Jasmine. The story plays out very similar to the original animated version, however much like the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast; it almost feels too much like a carbon copy of the original animated film. Some may say that is not a bad thing from the surface considering they’re going through the same story beats as the original in a very similar manner in a “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” kind of way.  The issue is we have already seen this movie played out before in the original animated version and considering the animated version was so lively and expressive in very subtle ways, seeing a group of filmmakers try to recreate that in a more limited way like live action does not work. Most of the scenes are bland and not filled with style or flare of any sort, making the film a rather dull watch. Not to mention, with this movie trying to be so much like the original to a bit of a fault, it is so much more notable when it makes a change that made the original flowed so well. Certain sequences are combined into one moment instead of being their own scene. This is bad because you don’t get a good sense of time as when certain moment in this movie end, there is no impact in terms of emotion and we just go to the next sequence. What makes it even worse however that is because this is the more “mature” version of the original movie, it has to be longer and since it couldn’t simply leave the great original moments intact, there is some very obvious filler thrown in here. When it appears it is painful as the scenes don’t add any value to the original story, they don’t improve on any flaws the original may have and most of it is just comedic moments and painfully unfunny ones. The comedy goes on for too long with some jokes lingering on and on with no point and very little charm. There’s nothing clever or quick about it and when this is a remake of a movie that had a comedic legend behind it with Robin Williams, it makes this movie all the more pitiful. You would think with a longer runtime they would make something more worthwhile with its story but unfortunately no, it’s just a poor retelling of a great movie that couldn’t retell it in a way that makes it feel like it has phenomenal cosmic powers.

Characters Super Ordinary Incredibly Boring

     Outside of its tightly told story, Aladdin is incredibly well known for its cast of amazing characters and this remake has a cast that for the most part doesn’t come close to the charm of Disney’s original film. Starting with the leads, Aladdin and Jasmine aren’t too terribly interesting in this film compared to how they were in the original. To the actors credit however, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott aren’t terribly cast in the roles and nor do they themselves give a bad performance as the characters. They do well with what they’re given as they try their best to retain the likability that the original animated characters had to offer with some charisma and some decent singing voices. What is holding them back however is the writing as the characters are directed in a weird way with Guy Richie’s direction not letting them go out and also a poor script that tries to attempt to add some depth to their characters but just come across as needless padding to make the film longer instead. Will Smith on the other hand, plays Will Smith and not the Genie. Not to discredit Smith as an actor as he has proven to be likable in the past but the film is mostly trying to have him do his typical shtick of being Funny Will Smith. This does not work due to the terrible writing when it comes to giving jokes to these characters that again linger on for too long and the fact that Smith has the task of following comedic legend Robin Williams in this iconic role he helped make. He does try to do his own thing at parts but it just pales in comparison to all the hilarious energy Williams gave in every single frame of Aladdin and the film still tries to desperately recreate something in the vein of that performance. Genie is a character that Williams mentioned in the film himself, “Is often imitated but never duplicated” and the filmmakers here did not realize that fact when recreating the Genie in this film. That is however nothing compared to the worst element of this movie character wise which is the main antagonist of Jafar. Jafar in this movie is horrible as once a menacing and memorable antagonist is given a boring look and performance with barely little emotion coming out of him. Kenzari could prove himself to be a good actor in other films but he is not only horribly miscast as a weirdly younger version of the character but the direction he was given just makes him out to be bored throughout a good majority of the film. Whenever there is a moment where he has to be over the top, it comes across as laughable as this version of Jafar just is a lame mess of character  Outside of the main cast, the rest of the characters don’t hold up as Abu is just a generic CGI monkey, The Sultan who was once charming and lovable turns into a boring generic king, and Jasmine has an unnecessary sidekick that just helps continues being a part of the terrible jokes in this movie. The only diamond in the rough that appears in this movie from a character perspective is the magic carpet. He is actually still the same old Magic Carpet, still being expressive despite the lack of facial features and dialogue that still stays true to the original film. Though considering Carpet is the only character that is 100% how he should be, then it’s kind of unbelievable that this new cast of big name actors are literally losing to a rug.

Visuals and Music Neither Shinning or Shimmering

     An animated movie is nothing without some visually stunning animation and considering what this movie is, it accomplished exactly that, nothing. Aladdin 2019 is not only a downgrade in visual quality when looking at all the expressive and beautifully crafted 2D Animated artwork on screen, but even on its own, it just looks lackluster. The movie doesn’t look grand or theatrical like the animated version and instead looks like a cheap Disney Channel movie. Namely because Guy Richie’s direction doesn’t have any sort of flare or style to it as previously mentioned, there are very few shots that look impressive as it just looks flat and uninspired looking obviously like a set with some very poor CGI. The effects for some of the major set pieces like the Cave of Wonders and other moments are lackluster enough already, but nothing could compared to the appalling effects that are Will Smith’s interpretation of the Genie. The original animated was very cartoony and over the top and it looked perfect with the way the character was designed and moved thanks to talented animator Eric Goldberg. When trying to recreate that over the top cartoon style of animation with a more realistic style of CGI does not work at all, in fact it looks downright grotesque at points. There are other gross looking CGI effects, that are seen throughout the movie but the Genie is the main one to be noticed in this film. More often than not however, the movie just looks bland, this is especially evident in the song sequences. Friend Like Me suffers from the grotesque visuals while the other songs like Prince Ali, One Jump Ahead, and A Whole New World more so suffer from being shot in a standard way with no much excitement. Guy Richie clearly shows that he does know how to direct a musical sequence as each moment is edited poorly with very little style and even lacking in color visually. The plus side is that unlike the Beauty and the Beast remake where there is a ton of auto tuned and poor singing, some of the songs are at least sung well. Namely A Whole New World is a nice version of the song to listen to and would be the highlight of the film is what was on screen looked bright and colorful like the original. There is one new song added into the film called Speechless that is only being mentioned now because it one of the biggest examples of filler added into this film. The song is completely forgettable and while it tries to add character to Jasmine, it just ends up being needlessly added just to pad out time. Naomi Scott’s talented singing voice could not make up for how incredibly pointless and generic this new song is, and just shows that they could have made it a good opportunity for them to add a deleted song that was good like Proud Of Your Boy. While the songs and visuals in the original movie are fantastic, the remake does not do these amazing visuals and music justice and turns it into a film that barely illuminates those possibilities of color and expression we see in film.

     The Aladdin remake is every bit as atrocious as a Disney remake can be. It may have some bright stuff here and there but the film doesn’t understand the original movie so much to the point where it just comes across as lifeless. There’s nothing of value here that is in this movie that you can just easily find in the original film. Some films should again never attempt to be duplicated and Disney’s Aladdin is a prime example of it. If there is anything that is good about the remake it is just another great reminder on how great the original Disney film is and hopefully this will end the trend of Disney taking older animated films and making them into generic live action tripe. A dream for many would be for them to be free from these remakes but fortunately, the originals are still here to stay and you’re better off watching that instead.

‘Detective Pikachu’: A Film Full of Fan Service and Fun for Poké-Fanatics

     Ever since the mid-90s, Pokémon has become a worldwide phenomenon that people either adore and love or just don’t get it. Adults may scratch their heads on the appeal of this series, but thanks to many Video Games and TV Shows, so many kids of all ages are able to get attached to this magical world of so many weird and cute creatures. It was only a matter of time that a Film Adaptation of Pokémon was going to appear, however no one quite expected the first Live-Action Pokémon movie to be a film based off of a small spin-off game known as Detective Pikachu. Despite how surreal it is, this pans out incredibly well as Detective Pikachu is an incredibly fun film that will get even the most casual of Pokémon fans joy that a world they’ve known so much has been properly translated into a Live Action film.

A Modern Day 90s Live Action Ninja Turtles

     Detective Pikachu’s story centers around a former Pokémon Trainor named Tim who has been grieving over the loss of his Father who has been deemed as missing. Things take a bizarre turn when a Pikachu that only he can talk to comes in and explains how he can find his Father, to which both characters are in for an adventure in this vast crazy world of Pokémon. The premise for this film is very simple and what works about it is that the film never truly wastes it’s time with excessive filler when it comes to exploring the world of Pokémon. The film gives the audience a bit of backstory on how this world of Pokémon exist but never dwells on it as the film’s main point is to entice fans of the series into this world. Though the real question is, does this movie adapt the source material well? The answer to that is yes, as this movie can be compared easily to the 1990 Live Action Adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Much like that film, it is a more gritty take on the source material, however also like Ninja Turtles, Detective Pikachu is very much aware of its strange and silly roots as both films manage to stay true the tone of the material with having a lot of heart and personality attached to it. Fans won’t feel like this movie did not get Pokémon wrong, however this is mostly saying for fans. For people who are newcomers to the franchise, this is not a film that will win you over if you haven’t been a fan of the series. It is a ridiculous movie and by the third act, the plot get a little absurd, considering the source itself is bizarre, it has to be something you would have to accept. This is also like Ninja Turtles in a sense that if you thought Pokémon was dumb and didn’t make sense before, this film won’t change your mind, but if you have liked the series a bit, then the more outlandish stuff in this film is par for the course. As it stands, Detective Pikachu is a good spiritual successor to Ninja Turtles for being there for the fans even if it is at risk of potentially alienating newcomers.

Light on Characters, Big On World

     Where Detective Pikachu may fall short in the overall plot, it ends up succeeding more so in the character department. The human cast of characters which include Justice Smith and Kathryn Newton are serviceable leads; there is not a whole lot of depth to these characters outside of being the typical lead and love interest. However, one element that makes this movie better than a lot of other live action adaptation is that the humans don’t overshadow the main appeal of the film. Whether its Michael Bay’s Transformers or the Live Action Smurfs, studios feel the need to make their live action adaptation focus on human characters that aren’t interesting and have the focus be on them rather than the fantastical element that all the fans see these movies for. Detective Pikachu rarely wastes the film on the human characters, the humans are there as the ones to latch onto but not the main appeal, as it makes good use of showcasing as many Pokémon as they can. This also goes for the real lead in the film being Pikachu himself as Ryan Reynolds gives this character a lot of personality with the voice work. It is arguably his usual Ryan Reynolds shtick with one liners and pop culture’s references you’d expect out of Deadpool, but considering this is a movie that doesn’t take itself too ridiculously seriously, it’s welcomed. The only other downside with the film from a character perspective is that the main antagonist is a bit over the top especially given how absurd his plan in the film is, but again, isn’t completely unwelcomed due to the bizarre feeling the movie strives to be. As a whole, Detective Pikachu does its characters well because it focuses on the exact characters that need to be focused on in a film like this, something that is often missing from so many adaptations.

Realistic Pokémon, Odd but Neat

Ever since the first trailer came out, there has been nothing more surreal to see in this modern age of filmmaking as Pokémon depicted in a more realistic setting. The thought of a live action Pokémon has been a possibility fans have thought of but never did they expect it to actually happen and with them looking as realistic as they are. Even despite how odd it is, the Pokémon for what they are, look fantastic in this world created for the film. Mainly due to the fact that for one thing, the film is pretty well shot in terms of making this world not completely like our own. It is a hyper realized fantasy setting and the way the Pokémon interact comes across as a cool idea to see fully realized with them in a more realistic looking setting. Yet the world itself still retains a fantastical futuristic setting in the vein of Blade Runner, so you do feel like you’re watching another world instead of our own which makes seeing the Pokémon interact all the more enjoyable. The other big element that makes the film look so appealing is even with the more realistic textures on them; Pikachu and the other Pokémon are still incredibly expressive. A lot of live action adaptations of animated properties, such as the Disney remakes fail due to the fact whenever they bring a character to life with a realistic CG look, they take out all the personality and expression just from their face alone. You may watch Christopher Robin and you may see Winnie the Pooh in that film sound like he should with Jim Cummings voice, you don’t get a welcoming sense of this character due to how soulless his eyes look and expressionless he face can get, making it look more creepy. Pikachu in this film on the other hand still has that welcoming smile and face to him with the facial animation and when you hear him say “Pika Pika”,  you just want to hold and pet that little Electric Mouse due to how welcoming he looks. That goes for most of the other Pokémon hear as they all retain their expressions and personality due to the great animation put on them. Whether they are the tougher type Pokémon like Charizard or another adorable one like Bulbasaur, the animators did their best to make these Pokémon look as real as they can be without sacrificing any sort of expression that made these creatures so appealing to look at.

     Detective Pikachu is an incredibly fun film while not a perfect masterpiece and won’t be appealing for everyone; it does exactly what it sets out to do and satisfies its fans perfectly. As far as adaptations go, it’s not going to be one to sell you on the property if you weren’t a fan prior, but that’s not the movie’s goal. It is a movie meant to cater to longtime Pokémon fans both causal and hardcore in creating a believable take on bringing Pokémon to life. With that in mind, it does that job very well with a decent script, fun characters and some incredibly world building and CG. Who would have thought the first live action Pokémon movie would be something like Detective Pikachu and be as good as it is, but it’s something that is welcomed in ever growing world of film adaptations.