Aladdin (2019), mini movie review

 

Rating: A-


Not another Disney remake!  Say it ain't so!

There are so many.

I did like Cinderella; thought this retelling was nice and fresh.  But I didn't care for Beauty and the Beast (some merit) or Dumbo.

How were they going to redo Aladdin and make it fresh?  How were they going to make it without the amazing Robin Williams who created a legend out of the genie?  The first trailer came out, and I wasn't digging it.  Wasn't excited.  It wasn't until I saw a sneak peak at Disneyland last April that I thought, "This could be fun."  And actually saw it twice.

The original animation will always hold a special place in my youthful heart.  Those songs were played on repeat back in the 90's.  I used to replay One Jump Ahead on loop and act out all the parts.  Back then it seemed A Whole New World was getting constant airplay and performed in variety shows everywhere.  Those were the days.

This new Aladdin has so much fighting against it, in addition to the giant hill of nostalgia.

Simply put, I loved this new take on Aladdin.

It's just fun.  Pure fun.  A nice mix of old and new.

There's this one scene, a new scene that I don't want to spoil for those who haven't seen it, that had me laughing so hard in the theater.

Is Will Smith, Robin Williams?  No, and he doesn't try to be, making it his own, which is nice.  No one can replace Robin.

The sets are beautiful.  The costumes dazzling.  And song numbers lively. 

The new song Speechless, performed by Naomi Scott who plays Jasmine, is wonderful.  Alan Menken hits it out of the park again.  (Though, I have to add, even though I had a hard time with Beauty and the Beast, Evermore and How Does a Moment Last Forever are amazing songs).

There are aspects of this new movie I have problems with, but I enjoyed the movie so much I'll overlook them.

Also, I realized that this is the kind of movie I can put on for my nieces and nephew at home when it comes to Blu-ray and walk in and out of the room, enjoying a scene here and there.  Maybe people wont see this as a plus, but its nice having movies that can be enjoyed in pieces, though I enjoy the whole as well.

Aladdin is currently my favorite Disney remake, a fun family film.

MPAA: Rated PG for some action/peril.

Tokyo Disney Sea, Part 2, Japan

 It seemed like the last half of our day was a scurry all over the back side of Tokyo Disney Sea, with the realization that there wasn't much time left, yet so much to do; we wanted to leave no later then 9:00 PM, even thought the park closed at 10:00, because we had a 2 hour train ride home, and we wanted to get to the apartment before midnight.

 Taking the boat from American Waterfront to Lost River Delta.

You can look over Tokyo Bay from here!  So many cool things to see.

 We didn't get to explore the Lost River Delta at all.  I know there's a roller coaster that was closed for refurbishment, and Indiana Jones, but since we have Indiana Jones back home we wanted to focus on the parts of Disney Sea we can't experience elsewhere.

 The Arabian Coast from a distance.

 We were going to explore the Arabian Coast, but we got distracted by Mermaid Lagoon.

The Little Mermaid!!!!

 It's really like being under the sea.

 There's a King Triton concert musical show that features Arial swimming (aka flying about on strings), but the wait for the show was 2 hours, because I completely forgot to get fast passes, so we weren't able to see it.  I'll have to see it the next time I visit, because I truly hope there is a next time.

 The Arabian Coast.  It's just like walking through the Aladdin movie.  We wanted to visit the dark ride "Sindbad's Storybook Voyage."

It was a quick walk through.  Next time I hope to stroll.

 The park has such a fun atmosphere at night.  We found a store in Mysterious Island that sells postage stamps so we could mail off some postcards.  They stamp the postcard with an ink stamp showing the parks theme, which was the Villains, of course.  Rode 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  And stumbled upon Storm Rider, which was a surprise of a ride.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on the unique Tokyo Disney Sea rides.

(Photos by Michael and Sarah Stufflebeam)