(Let’s face it, all vaguely Middle Eastern urban
scenes haven’t changed much since “Raiders
of the Lost Ark”.) And a real stumble is made in
the Cave of Wonders, which is horribly under-
realized — it looks like a cat threw up gold coins
and rubies.
Marwan Kenzari is a younger Jafar than we
are used to but he’s evidently been told to
go full-psychotic by the end, including
screaming like he’s in “The Wrath of Khan” as
thunder roars and his eyes bulge. Even so,
he now has a backstory and some nice lines,
including “Steal an apple, you’re a thief. Steal a
kingdom, you’re a statesman.”
Smith’s Genie is a martini-drinking, yoga-posing,
needy showoff with a top knot and an armful
of popular culture references (“The crowd goes
wild!” he says). When he’s blue, he’s purely a
visual effect and trying too hard to be the late
Robin Williams. When he’s normal, he’s Smith —
and better. A scene in which the Genie tries to
help the tongue-tied Aladdin at court is Smith at
his funniest in years.
But everywhere else you feel a restless Ritchie.
He has fallen in love with making things explode
in a burst of sand. He breaks the fourth wall in
one moment and never returns. He creates an
abrupt, out-of-left-field fantasy sequence for
“Speechless” and never repeats it. He is very
good at action — and even mocks the art
form when he makes a pile of spice shudder as
something massive approaches, like in “Jurassic
Park” — but can’t decide on a consistent visual
style. He seems bored by quiet moments. Even
his romantic “A Whole New World” carpet ride
— a slam dunk for any filmmaker — is made
somehow harrowing.