My Review of Aladdin · 1:43am Dec 4th, 2020
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
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Greetings, folks! Here is my review of Aladdin! This is definitely one of those classic Disney films I’ve watched as a kid, but this is also one of those films that didn’t really have that much an impact on me. Unlike The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I don’t have any emotional attachment to Aladdin that would make me look back at it and say, “Man, I wish I would watch this masterpiece again!” Don’t get me wrong—this is a good film and is definitely nostalgic in some ways. Why do I say “good” instead of “great” or “awesome”? Well... I have several problems with this film that prevents me from loving it completely. However, it has a number of things that make up for it. So here it is:
Negatives:
1). The protagonist... I don’t give a rat’s ass about this guy. Why is Aladdin so important? We have here a homeless thief who steals food for survival and tries looking for a home. Okay, that’s understandable. We do see him provide some bread for the poor children who were hungry. Again, that’s understandable and very kind of him. However... we see him be misled by the evil vizier Jafar in disguise of an old man to retrieve a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Now, the latter has a number of rules; one of them is that no one can enter the cave unless he is worthy—“a diamond in the rough”. And.... this common thief is the diamond in the rough?! WHY??? He has done NOTHING to earn that privilege! Yes, he fed some homeless children previously. But there’s two things to counter that argument: 1). That was just one time he has done this, and 2). anybody else could have done that! What makes the Cave think that this good-for-nothing thief has earned the Diamond in the Rough title and lets that guy go inside him?
Touch nothing but the lamp!
Yes, I will allow you to enter inside—oh wait, he has a monkey with him. Hmm, I can only permit this one person to enter inside, but I suppose this random monkey could serve as an exception. Am I stupid, blind, or what?
The button line is... I don’t like Aladdin. He is one of the most boring and predictable male protagonists I’ve ever watched. I don’t like Abu either. At least Frank Welker did his excellent performance in voicing him. Good thing Megatron learned how to transform into a monkey just like how BW Megatron transforms into a T-Rex. Yeeeessss...
2). The Sultan was unbelievably annoying and stupid. Allowing himself to hold the idiot ball and be that unfair towards his own daughter? Come on, man...
3). Aladdin falls in love with Jasmine. So Genie grants his wish to become a prince since only a prince can marry her. Then later on, he becomes guilty for lying to her about being a prince. Umm... Genie granted you a wish to become a prince, right? So shouldn’t that be official? So that means that his wishes are not real? He isn’t that powerful enough to make you a real prince then? I’m confused.
4). Lastly, after he confesses the truth to her at the end of the movie, he... gets everything he wants at the end. So instead of facing the consequences for falsely impersonating as a prince the whole time, the Sultan suddenly abolishes the law and let’s her marry whoever she wishes. Ahh, it took you long enough to be not so controlling and unbearable, huh? It took being manipulated and tortured by an evil Vizier to finally get it through his head that he needs to not be that hard on Jasmine and not treat her like some sort of treasure to be obtained by marrying her to some self-absorbed, strange prince(s). Or maybe it was a sign of gratitude since Aladdin saved their lives. Okay, I get that, but there are many other ways to show gratitude and NOT make yourself so partial by abolishing the law. If that was so simple, why didn’t he do that earlier in the movie?
Actually, when you think about it, if he didn’t have that marriage law in the beginning of the movie, there would have been no conflict at all. Wow... great writing, writers. 🙄
Ughhhh... those are my main issues with this movie. Now, unto the positives!
Positives:
1). Genie was voiced by the late Robin Williams! He is one of the best characters of the whole movie, and he gave his absolute best performance as Genie! Man, I’m so sad that Robin Williams is gone. He was one of my favorite actors of all time, and my dad liked him a lot too. Mrs. Doubtfire, The Night at the Museum films, Hook, Robots, and much more he played in! When I heard of how he died back in 2014, I and my dad were shocked and devastated. His comedy and acting always put a smile on our faces and made us laugh every time. May he rest in peace.
2). Iago was also a funny character in this film! I love his voice, his jokes, his sinister personality, and being a great sidekick to Jafar!
Gilbert Gottfried is fantastic in his voice acting. I remember watching him as Aflac Duck many years ago... as well as Digit from Cyberchase. Man, those were the good times...
3). The soundtrack is awesome and well-composed; the animation is beautiful; the designs are great; and most of the characters are well written. Of course, I can’t say the same for some I’ve already talked about. Now, last but not least...
4). 
Jafar is actually quite a great villain. He isn’t one of my favorite Disney villains though. Plus, he never really impressed me that much especially not after having watched this movie about several times or so. But, still, he’s not bad. He has a menacing voice, sadistic personality, charming aurora, and has also achieved his goal nearly flawlessly. He beat nearly everyone to reach his goal of taking over Agrabah. Plus, Jonathan Freeman did a great job voicing him. But I don’t like how he is so skinny in appearance. He is very good-looking with all those royal clothes on since he is a Vizier. But once you trip him of his royal clothing, he is just a bag of bones. I guess villains have to be skinny to identify them as evil? I mean, Scar and Frollo were also slim.
Anyway, the movie has serious problems with the story and the main characters. That’s why I don’t love this movie that much. Nonetheless, it is still enjoyable and fun to some degree. Therefore, I give it a 7/10. Hmm, I’m now curious of the Aladdin remake. I’ll have to give it a watch to see if it holds up or not. Don’t spoil me please. But that’s all for now.
Peace!
Fun fact: my 6th grade class did a play on this, and I got the part of Iago.
(Slightly different take, but still similar.)
Maybe I should do video game reviews. Since you cover movies and Wrex does fanfics.
5409387
That’s interesting! Iago left that great of an impression.
And yes, go right for it. Good luck with your game reviews. And your avatar looks a little badass too.
5409390
Yeah, I paid 54 bucks for a new cover art. That's why my avatar is cooler.
And I didn't do a ton of Iago's good stuff, I was pretty much the laid-back assistant. Though when I went up to the guardian (not a giant structure, just a person) and they bellowed out, I did pretend to be startled, jump back and hide. (I would have been 100% proud of the play if two people didn't accidentally skip their lines, and we were silent until they caught on. I mentally panicked).
Last thing, would you check out my reviews, if you would?
5409392
Well, since I follow you, it would be hard to miss your stuff.
What would be your opinion on Kingdom Hearts?
5409397
It's already done. Lesson learned: you don't need to play a game to review it. Just know nearly all of it.
5409425
Good for you, Leo. 😊
5409408
I never played it. But after watching the play throughs and story of the series on YouTube, it’s quite an entertaining franchise. But don’t expect a review of it from me.
5409427
Fair enough. And your right, it's entertaining. I have copies.
Believe me, this movie introduced me to Robin Williams and I don’t regret it.
5409464
Awesome! Same here!
R.I.P Robin Williams. The sad thing about his death is that it could have been avoided. The reason he committed suicide was because he was diagnosed with something that he didn't have. Dumbass doctor.
Here’s my review on the animated version, in case you’re interested:
My Movie Review on Aladdin (1992)
5427997
Yeah, I already read that. Nice review.
Any thoughts on what I shared about this film?
5428002
Well, there are things that I disagree with you on, such as that I believe Aladdin fully made up for everything he did in the end and that Jafar’s exposing of Aladdin and sending him to the snowy mountains was punishment enough. However, I found your review enjoyable. The only thing I’d recommend is to not be cussing every time you rant about something.
5428006
I understand you don’t like profanity that much, but that’s just how I talk sometimes.
Just try to ignore it.