Disney is renowned for producing movie magic on a fantastic scale. The film factory's latest reimagining of a classic tale from their vaults is that of Aladdin.
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You get a bit of everything in this update.
There's the romance between the common thief, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine.
Will Smith romps through his appearance as the Genie from the lamp with his South-Central LA attitude and speech patterns.
Political intrigue makes an appearance with the powerful adviser to the Sultan, Jafar, scheming to overthrow the Sultanate, while Princess Jasmine aspires to become sultan and lead her country in a benevolent manner.
Magic abounds with Jafar's magical cobra shaped staff, the genie's blue smoke infused appearance from the lamp, birds that speak and carpets that fly.
Thematic concerns range from the strong-minded princess, who doesn't want to marry Prince Charming but a man who respects her for her mind, to the plight of the poor and downtrodden.
Disney is promoting the range of actors from many cultural backgrounds and diverse ethnicity that appear in Aladdin, yet has fallen short of respecting cultural sensitivities in the way it depicts and presents non-Western people and customs.
Disney struggles to reconcile its classic style with contemporary attitudes across gender and ethnicity.
Disney contracted action director Guy Ritchie, who directed the wonderful London gangster film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and the adrenaline-charged Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey, Jr. to revitalise the tale of Aladdin.
Without doubt, he injects vitality into Aladdin's storyline, yet it's still a Hollywood film that treads on Middle Eastern cultural traditions in a clumsy manner.
Therein lies the problem. Aladdin is a confused film. It's trying to be too many things to please almost everyone. That's a tough job for any film and any audience.
Individually, all these components work well. Will Smith's blue-tinged Genie is comic while maintaining emotional sensitivity. Smith assumes control of the genie and massages the role to become an onscreen delight.
The love story between the Sultan's subject Aladdin and the sharp and the independent Princess Jasmine is both fun-filled and romantic, although their accents range from mock Persian to mock American, while the magic carpet and other effects are stunning.
If Disney set out to create a film that is a live-action, romantic, comedy, thriller, political fantasy made to look like a Persian cross-cultural Hollywood meets the Middle East meets Bollywood film that looks like an adventure ride at Disneyland, they have nailed it.
Yet, because of that very approach, Aladdin remains an entertaining but confused film.
