ALADDIN TRAILER REACTION

And I’m back. No; not because another easy post has presented itself via a new trailer that can I react to. But rather because Aladdin is a film I care deeply about 👀. I’m pretty sure if you’ve clicked onto my trailer reaction you must have seen my other trailer reactions or are familiar with this blog. Out of all the reactions I have made Aladdin seems as though it has to do the most in order to drum up any significant anticipation on my behalf. I mean; I’ll watch it, but probably not in the cinemas or at the very least I;ll wait a while and only watch it with nothing else is on at the time. It’s because (as I will explain), a) Disney remakes aren’t exactly a must watch in my opinion, b) this film has so many parts that could make it a failure and c) if I’m going to watch any live-action Disney remake it’ll be Lion King. That being said, do check out my last trailer reaction – and lets begin.

Scroll to the end for the HYPEMETRE.

(*breathes*) Ahh. Aladdin, Aladdin, ALADDIN! Where do I start? Let’s start regarding the moving parts I spoke about in my introduction. Disney’s Aladdin has so much to do; almost an up-field battle for them and this trailer shows how I think this film will go. To explain; (and I won’t share my reaction to these moving parts but rather what I’m reading online) it needs to persuade us that he is a good Aladdin (which the reaction to trailer shows the jury is still out for that one), persuade us that the Genie Will Smith doesn’t suck (btw; I love Will Smith but after the teaser we were all worried), show us Jafar (I’ll get onto that), show us the world Aladdin lives in (the cinematography seems to be getting a lot of hate), show us Jasmine and persuade us that she is a good Jasmine after all the controversy. And by some miracle; the one that seemed the hardest to pull off; the sole reason many weren’t enthusiastic for the film was corrected in about a minute and half. Yes, I’m talking about Will Smith’s Genie; I will get onto later but first I want to talk about the biggest problem the film will have.

And his name is Guy Ritchie. When he was announced to direct the film, my eyebrows were raised; I just don’t understand how Disney would put one of the top three Disney films (yes I said it; fight me); in the hands of someone who has failed to deliver film after film in recent years. Plus, as I’ve said Aladdin isn’t an easy film to recreate; no matter who would be cast; hate would overshadow the film. I wouldn’t trust Guy Ritchie with a music video let alone a classic.

“Ahhh that’s hot” – Will Smith.👏. As I said earlier; I went from thinking Will Smith will ruin this movie, to understanding we will probably be saying he is saving this movie. Now, here is where it gets sticky; because there is a little grey area in what I’m about to say. Will Smith could not play the Genie; it is that simple. He couldn’t try to recreate the character that was made famous my Robin Williams, because there is only one Robin Williams, what it seems Will Smith has done; (which again – grey area), based on the one minute I have seen is Will Smith seems to be playing himself. I’m not sure if this is going to wear thin when it is carried out throughout the entire movie especially considering, for large portions of the trailer, he isn’t in his Genie self, relating back to this idea that he isn’t playing the same character. But; I have hope for that character and I know that Will Smith will pull it off (and, yes I am being 100% bias because I love Will Smith).

After watching many, many, many trailers in my life I like to think I have become a master at spotting things. And this trailer reeks of a 2011 Green Lantern trailer cover-up. It seems like they hired an amazing editor for the trailer to try to drum up as much anticipation after all the hate. This is never more relevant than the fact they try to hit you with the nostalgia factor by playing ‘Friend Like Me’ and ‘A Whole New World’ to try to entice you. It just feels like something is missing, I’m not sure what but it just does. Maybe it is the lack of a menacing Jafar (don’t worry he is coming) or the lack of screen time Aladdin has to carry the trailer alone (I’m still not convinced about him), Another problem with the trailer and no doubt the film is its cinematography, some shots of the film are really nice and I really like the montage at the end of all the different scenes and the Genie’s hands. But, the one scene in the sand (below) just seemed so wrong, alongside the others at the start. The one thing I thought wouldn’t be a problem would be its visuals but I KEEP TELLING YOU. You can’t trust Guy Ritchie.

Lets talk about the characters. Considering the above picture let me talk about the biggest issue, two to be precise; Aladdin and Jafar. As I have said many times, the Genie was the biggest concern. Disney had to open the curtains to show him off, but in doing so showed how much Jafar and Aladdin suck. I know that’s mean especially after a minute of screen-time; but I’m just not sure about Jafar. You telling me he looks menacing to you; like an evil genius? And as for Aladdin, he just doesn’t look like he was the quirkiness to lead this film. I am just not convinced. I think at the very least Jafar has been mis-cast and potentially Aladdin too. But, alas; I want to go in with hope.

If I had to give the trailer a rating; I would say 8/10. It eased my worries, and gave us a pretty fun two minutes. It might have scared me a little with Jafar and Aladdin but at the very least my Genie concerns are eased. Plus; you have to ask what does Disney expect. Regardless of how this performs they have positioned Lion King to follow this up and sweep up the mess it could potentially make. Similar to how Dumbo is before this, an even bigger risk of a film for Disney to make (update: reviews are not looking good on that one). I’m just not hundred percent sure yet; I can see the reviews coming out bashing it (mainly because I have no faith in Guy Ritche) or calling it mediocre. But I just can’t see it going the other way in Aladdin’s favour. And for one of my favourite Disney cartoons growing up – I really do hope I am wrong.

HYPEMETER: 6/10

AZ