Movie Review: Aladdin

photo+credit+to+IMDb

photo credit to IMDb

Eunice Ahn, Photojournalist

*This article contains spoilers. Read at your own cost!

The live action Aladdin came out recently on May 24 and it brought up a lot of excitement and also questions. Was the live action really going to be as good as the original cartoon? Personally, this movie exceeded my expectations and it turned out to be such a magical feeling to experience again.

 

The original movie was released on November 11, 1992, and it has been one of the most popular Disney movies. The exciting feeling filled with love makes the movie an amazing film to watch. It demonstrates the hardships of being a “dirt” to society and how that can change just from simple wishes. The movie also has many lessons such as “don’t seek too much power” or “wish in moderation”. The live action maintained the basic plot of the movie and the lessons too.

 

The main problem that people had before the movie came out was whether or not the movie would be as good as the original. In my opinion, I believe that the new live-action version did perfectly well. They kept the important scenes and added in some new changes to the movie, making it so that people won’t get bored so easily. One of the changes that they added to the movie was a dance scene. The dance somewhat came as a surprise and it marveled many people. My mouth was literally open throughout the entire scene. The dance was really captivating and the costumes made it more colorful and pleasant to watch. Another scene they added in was Aladdin sneaking into the palace. As this may turn into a spoiler, I won’t go into further detail as to why he did that, but it added in some thrill as we watch him weave through the palace.

 

Further changes in the live action movie were to add a love story for the Genie! In the original movie, he was like the wing man and the matchmaker, so it was sweet seeing him have his own romance. They also added in a few characters, making the plot flow more smoothly. They did not change anything just by adding new characters, they only made the plot a lot more enjoyable. And finally, Jasmine has her own song! In other Disney movies, most princesses have their own song, except for Jasmine. Her song was amazing and it really demonstrated her struggles and strength as a princess.

Kayla McKechnie (9) said, “Judging by the trailers, it looked like a Bollywood movie, so I decided not to watch it, but I might now because a lot of people I know said it was good.” Overall, this movie really went beyond many people’s expectations as they experienced the sweet feeling on the magic carpet ride again.