I Watch Films: Aladdin (2019)

 

Aladdin (2019)

Aladdin is a streetwise thief in the city of Agrabah, with a monkey sidekick. He meets Jasmine, the daughter of the Sultan, being courted by princes, who has sneaked out and they have an adventure. Trying to sneak into the palace to see Jasmine, Aladdin and his monkey are captured by Jafar, the grand vizier, and his parrot sidekick Iago. Jafar offers Aladdin enough wealth to become respectable and court Jasmine if he enters the perilous Cave Of Wonders and retrieve a lamp for him.

Aladdin releases a trapped magic carpet to gain a second CGI sidekick to go with the monkey, retrieves the lamp and is double-crossed by Jafar. In the confusion he, monkey, carpet and lamp all end up trapped in the Cave Of Wonders. The lamp has a genie, played by Will Smith. He gets three wishes.

Aladdin wishes to be a prince so he can court Jasmine, and makes a spectacular entrance, leading to the main portion of the film, with Jafar plotting and Aladdin trying to woo Jasmine. There are song and dance numbers, stunts, CGI magic, some nice bits where Jafar, despite magic, law, and a genie can’t make them submit, and the trick of the final wish. This is based on the Disney cartoon version, which I’ve only seen bits and pieces of over the last 30 years.

Watch This: It’s a fun adventure for family viewing
Don’t Watch This: Too many CGI sidekicks, and few surprises