Aladdin 2019

Will Smith, Mena Massoud,
Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari

"The Magic Comes to Life"

I really don't remember much about the animation version of Aladdin except for its famous song "A whole new World". So I watched this 2019 edition with fresh eyes. 

Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a thief who robs people with the help of his pet monkey, Abu. A chance encounter with a young lady will forever change his life for the better. Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) is the daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah. She likes to go out in disguise to see how the citizens live outside of their immense palace. She introduces herself as Dalia, her chambermaid to Aladdin who stole her bracelet. Meanwhile, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) the grand Vizier to the Sultan 'hires' Aladdin to steal a magic lamp from within a cave with a Lion Head entrance. He intends to use magic lamp + the genie for his nefarious activities within the sultanate.

But with the help of Abu, Aladdin somehow becomes the 'owner' of the magic lamp. Upon rubbing it, the genie in the personification of a blue floating Will Smith comes out of the lamp and tells Aladdin, he can grant three wishes. One of Aladdin's wishes is to be a prince so he can vie for the hand of Princess Jasmine as mandated in the laws of Agrabah. Naturally, a major stumbling presents itself before everyone has a happy fairy tale ending.

Guy Ritchie, the English director known for his action filled British gangster movies helms this Disney retelling of a well loved story. Quite surprising as you really don't expect Ritchie to deviate from his usual style of filmmaking. But I believe he does a good job in making us fall in love again with Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and the witty genie. 

The costumes are bright, colorful and reminiscent of an Arabian nights setting. Some of the songs from the original are back and sang in the same tone so we can easily recognize them. CGI (computer generated imagery) plays a big part in making this visually vibrant and fast paced fantasy movie, a success.

Will Smith as the blue genie is sometimes ridiculous and over the top while other times, he blends well with the other characters. It is good he is a rapper/singer so he can certainly carry a tune. His witty dialogue is well delivered but nothing can totally match Robin Williams as the hilarious genie in the animated version. 

Both Mena and Naomi can sing well enough without any pitch problems. Aladdin is portrayed as a wily thief with self esteem issues, who redeems himself and changes for the better, by the ending. Jasmine has changed from the love struck princess singing cheesy love songs while riding a flying carpet to a feisty,  sassy female character who can easily rule her country, sans qualms. A sympathetic leader who knows what her people want and want what is good for her country, her citizens and her man, Aladdin.

Overall, this 2 hour 8 minutes movie is an entertaining musical, in the sense that they don't sing every 2 minutes which can be quite irritating. For me, it is 3.5 out of 5, worth of popcorn buckets.

Avengers: Endgame

Robert Downey Jr,  Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo,

Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth,

Jeremy Renner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle,
Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson, Paul Rudd,
Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana

"Avenge the Fallen"

Cinema 4, The Red Carpet @ Shang

My sister is in town so we normally watch movies at the theater. It has to be said that we are not die hard fans of superheroes films yet we are certainly aware of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's characters. I just got home, still all hyped up so I better compose a post when everything is still fresh in my giddy mind. This film being over 3 hours, we decided to have dinner first so our tummies won't grumble while watching this much anticipated finale.

Avenger: Endgame is the last installment in the Infinity saga. We knew which characters did not make it in the previous Avengers: Infinity War. With a single snap of Thanos' (Josh Brolin) fingers, most of them disintegrated into tiny dust particles.

This film takes place in 2023 where the surviving superheroes have gone on with their lives. Taking them into different directions, all of them trying their best to forget (although it is very difficult) the devastation which occurred. An event which affected the whole planet, their loved ones and themselves.

Not wiling to quit, they devised a complex plan to yet again defeat Thanos and for the 'lost' ones to return. It is comprehensive, very tricky and involves time travel but certainly can work, if it is successful. This plan take our remaining superheroes back in time. For them to gather all the stones, right before Thanos got all of them and snapped his fingers.

All of these thrilling time travel adventures comprise about 85% of the entire movie. The rest is focused on the final battle - between Thanos' army and all of the MCU superheroes. A fight scene of all fight scenes - a visual smorgasbord of protagonists versus villains. Each of them using their superpowers to defeat the enemies. Unfortunately, some don't survive while others are bruised and battered.

The final minutes of the movie calms down as goodbyes are expressed and we bid farewell to certain characters. But with the promise of seeing some of these characters yet again in their own stand alone movies for us to better understand how they evolved into the superhero realm.

Even if it is a three hour movie, there is enough drama, comedy, anxiety and excitement to keep us tuned in till the very last minute. A very lovely and enjoyable epic end to a much beloved saga which has entertained us for many years. We also look forward to more superhero movies to amuse us in the coming years.