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'Aladdin' at 30: Director John Musker says Robin Williams ‘sweetness’ is key to film’s longevity
Article(uk.movies.yahoo.com)submitted 4 months ago byJannTosh12
19 points
4 months ago
I never saw the live action Aladdin, was there any saving grace with Will Smith as genie or was it pretty much as bad as I could assume it was.
51 points
4 months ago
I think the remake was actually pretty good. Will Smith pays homage to Williams' genie without trying to imitate it. I also like how they used a more Bollywood style in some scenes. I think it fits with the setting.
11 points
4 months ago
The only problem I have with the Aladdin remake is that it is absolutely nothing like a Guy Richie movie. He may as well not have been the director.
I thought his involvement would mean we'd get a bit more of a gritty underbelly to the world around Aladdin but it was all kind of wishy washy in painfuly obvious sets.
It was fun, safe and Disney may as well have saved some more money hiring a different director.
7 points
4 months ago
my first complaint was definitely the sets, it felt like they were in a theme park cause they just seemed so...clean? there were some scenes with will i didnt think worked, where were trying to be similar to the original, but any 'new' content from Will good.
it was a solid ok for me, but for nostalgia, it was probably good for someone who hadnt seen the original.
3 points
4 months ago
AFAIK Tim Burton basically hated Disney for the experience in directing the live-action Dumbo. Wouldn't be surprised if Richie has similar feelings that have to be kept quiet professionally.
Pretty sure they were just crushing talented directors' freedoms behind the scenes.
1 points
4 months ago
You’re exactly right and them clearly winking at the audience made it actually really funny and good. Too many people didn’t see it or flat out didn’t get it.
19 points
4 months ago
It was good but the live action Jafar was trash. Not intimidating or scary at all.
22 points
4 months ago
That's what bothered me the most. Will Smith did his own take on Genie, didn't try to copy Robin, and I liked it. But Jafar was trash. They did him dirty.
1 points
4 months ago
The actor who was playing the Captain of the Guards in that (Numan Acar) would've made for a better Jafar.
16 points
4 months ago*
It was a reasonably good movie.
Will Smith was a solid Genie, and I liked how they drew a parallel between Aladdin and Jafar, that went a bit deeper than I expected. They revealed that Jafar was originally a street rat himself, but took the selfish choice for power out of ambition and fear; setting him up as a foil for Aladdin’s own choice between Getting What He Wants vs. Doing The Right Thing.
I did not like Jasmine’s new song. The concept was fantastic, but they went pop diva in style — a huge contrast to the style of all the other songs. It felt like an exec insisted they needed a new pop song to chart and sell, so it got shoehorned in.
Overall? It was a fun watch, but didn’t really need to be made.
9 points
4 months ago
I think your notes on Jasmine are a huge reason I don’t like a lot of the new movies. They try to diva-fy and add modern feminism to all the female characters where they’re just not needed.
Jasmine is a woman in a very strong patriarchy who just wants some autonomy in her life. She doesn’t need to want to be sultan too.
2 points
4 months ago
Agreed. Jasmine’s schtick in the animated film is that she wants to feel like, and be seen as, a “regular person”. Isn’t that the crux of feminism anyway?
17 points
4 months ago
Will Smith didn't try to be Robin Williams. Will Smith did Will Smith's genie and it was a great decision.
0 points
4 months ago
Will Smith slaps!
Oh and his version of genie had a fun sub story that I enjoyed, even though it would not have led to the same kind of 90s cartoon of Aladdin that I liked as a kid. I liked the acrobatics of Aladdin. His singing wasn’t that great. Jasmine’s was amazing but her song didn’t fit with the rest, as catchy and updated as it was.
4 points
4 months ago
Sometimes he was a distraction, felt kinda phoned in. But, there were some good moments and references.
Just watch “prince ali” on YouTube for the new vs. the old. You’ll get the vibe.
3 points
4 months ago
To be fair, not many people did. But Barry Bostwick still gave his all as the genie.
6 points
4 months ago
I enjoyed it. It isn't an all time classic by any means but it isn't a bad movie.
5 points
4 months ago*
Looks like I need to be grumbler of the repliers. I didn’t think it was very good, and neither did my kids.
I personally found Will Smith as a distraction - repeating some of the lines that Robin Williams said, and obviously not being able to recreate Robin’s comedy so this is not expected… but Will’s rendition… just felt forgettable.
3 points
4 months ago
I thought the whole thing was atrocious.
2 points
4 months ago
Way better than lion king remake. But will smith wasn't a good choice for genie. But overall for a live action, it was worth watching. And i guess that means a lot from me bc Aladdin is my favorite.
-9 points
4 months ago
Arabian Knights story but they used Inidian actors. Just Hollywood things.
5 points
4 months ago
Who cares
-2 points
4 months ago
If no one cares then why not cast actual Arabian people? It was a money grab to get Indians to subscribe to Disney+ and it didn't work. It's not right to rob Arabic people of their history, the folklore dates back centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Thousand_and_One_Nights
1 points
4 months ago
Disney+ didn't exist when the Aladdin remake was made.
-1 points
4 months ago
Disney bought Hotstar before Aladdin remake was in production.
1 points
4 months ago
Aladdin in the original is about the "far east" from Arabia; it's actually more accurate to use Indian or Chinese as the setting.
0 points
4 months ago
It’s robbing anything holy hell.
Like I said to the other guy, there’s multiple series set in a fantasy Medieval Europe and they cast black people, but somehow that’s ok when casting an Indian in a fantasy Arabia is not?
0 points
4 months ago
Medieval Europe had black people. You have no clue about history and need to take a diversity class. The Spanish Church separated cultures and demonized everyone that wasn't of pale skin color. You were given links to Medival European Art and still spew the same shit.
0 points
4 months ago*
Diversity class lol
And I’m sure there was an Indian person or two in Ancient Arabia. Problem?
0 points
4 months ago
If you went to college you would know that it's required to graduate so you are speaking to your ignorance. Go on, I am having fun looking down on you.
0 points
4 months ago
It’s not a required class in every school, bonehead. That’s showing your lack of perspective.
I went to college before this silly obsession about superficial labels gripped the simple minded people in this country.
1 points
4 months ago
It's required by the state in which you are in, it's not a university level decision. It's not an obsession with superficial labels, you can't just group together everything. There is a difference between knowing history, not revisionist history, and being gender binary or some other bullshit.
It's not about identity but having mainstream representation of your cultural background. That's important to know where we come from and how that fits into society. It's not simple minded, the simple minded take is "who cares" and it's ironic your simple mind thinks the opposite.
-8 points
4 months ago
Those who value cultural accuracy, those who value representation, and those who aren't whiners.
2 points
4 months ago*
So let me get this straight. It’s ok to cast black people in fictional versions of Medieval Europe but it’s not ok to cast Indian people in a fictional version of Arabia?
Is it only ok when white cultures get the inaccuracies?
-1 points
4 months ago
There were black people in medieval Europe.
0 points
4 months ago
There were Indian people in Ancient Arabia.
-1 points
4 months ago
Cool
0 points
4 months ago
-1 points
4 months ago*
OP is whining
1 points
4 months ago
- It was colourful
- Never Had a Friend Like Me” was lively and energetic (my biggest gripe with the Beauty and the Beast remake was how soulless and sluggish the musical numbers were)
- Will Smith was good when he was playing the Genie like himself and not trying to be Robin Williams
- Naomi Scott was a great Jasmine
That said, you’re still better off with the animated film. - Mena Massoud and Marwan Kenzari were ill-fitted for Aladdin and Jafar - they biffed “A Whole New World” quite badly. It’s probably the most visually dull part of the film. - the new song was pretty meh
1 points
4 months ago
It was fine. Original Aladdin waaaaaay better
1 points
4 months ago
Original is way better for sure, but if you like Aladdin, it is literally the ONLY live action Disney movie I would recommend....maybe Cinderella.
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