Aladdin has taken quite the beating over the course of its run leading up to its release. The original teasers weren’t met with much enthusiasm, with it gaining some criticism over the visual effects, but the biggest blowback came when they revealed Will Smith’s Genie in all his blue glory. In short, he didn’t look too hot, and to many, threatened to ruin the role made famous by the late, great Robin Williams.
But even that didn’t really last too long. A new trailer was shown, and while it was incredibly derivative of the original film (I mean, I guess one could argue that that’s inevitable, with it being a remake and all), it looked like it would be a whole lot of fun for those of us content to relive our favorite moments in live-action form. Like Beauty and the Beast before it, it could cruise in on the strengths of the original, making only detours that help to enrich the narrative.
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In the latest clip from Aladdin, however, one of the movie’s greatest potential weakness lai exposed for the world to see. As much as I hate to say it, that weakness appears to be director Guy Ritchie. I love me some Guy Ritchie, but this clip showing off the musical number “Prince Ali” doesn’t really show a whole lot of visual flair. Whereas the sequence in the animated counterpart was dynamic and fluid, with shots of the Genie transforming left and right, this portrayal looks…kinda stilted. Will Smith is literally doing nothing but sort of dancing at the front of the parade, and the dancing seems pretty generic and uninspired. Honestly, the highlight for me is the quick cuts to Jasmine’s handmaiden, which isn’t saying much.
And to illustrate my point, I point back to Beauty and the Beast. It may not be the most original film, but it’s clear that director Bill Condon knows his way around a musical. The dance numbers in there were exciting and visually interesting and took advantage of the whimsical nature and production design. With Aladdin, based on this clip, it looks like Ritchie is a bit out of his element. This is in conjunction with comments made by our own Gig Patta, who had a chance to see the whole “Friend Like Me” dance number at this year’s CinemaCon (you can hear his comments in the podcast embedded below). He told me that while the song itself was fine, the actual dancing, choreography and visuals just weren’t exciting.
This is perhaps the most unfortunate part. We know Ritchie is a solid director, but it’s a shame he had to cut his teeth on the musical genre with such a high-profile project before he had a chance to become more fluent in what makes the genre work.
Again, this is a criticism only based on the limited clips we have seen, but it looks to be a real problem that could ultimately cost them some real bucks. When we already have the majority of the marketing for this film throwing up red flags, I think it’s okay for us to be a little bit worried.
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SOURCE: Disney
