Aladdin

Depending on who you ask, Disney’s live-action remakes of their classic animation films over the last several years have been wonderful nostalgia or unnecessary cash-grabs. Again, depending on who you ask. Aladdin is no different – the reviews are in, and they’re exactly the same as all the previous remakes: you have one side crying foul saying how trite and pointless, while others say it reminds them of a better, simpler time, their childhood. I personally feel the remarkable thing about Aladdin is how it managed not to be the total bomb it should have been – it’s actually kind of watchable. I mean, they cast Will Smith in the Genie role, after all. While he’s not ever going to live up to Robin Williams by any means, everyone was just waiting for him to eat shit and to turn it into the Razzy-worthy acting role of the year (he didn’t somehow!) (it all just smelled of Shaquille O’Neal in Kazaam!) You’re sitting there watching this movie and wondering why did they waste Guy Ritchie on Aladdin? Well, maybe there’s a good reason why. Perhaps, Guy Richie helped save this production from being Disney’s live-action remake version of Waterworld. It could have been way worse.

[PG]