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Movie Review: Disney's Live-Action Remake Of 'Aladdin' Isn't As Magical As The Robin Williams Original

Plus reviews of 'The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil', 'The Silence' and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile'.

Plus reviews of 'The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil', 'The Silence' and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile'.

Plus reviews of 'The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil', 'The Silence' and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile'.


Aladdin (PG)

Starring Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud

Directed by Guy Ritchie

Know any good hypnotherapist? ̕Cos the best way to enjoy this leaden live-action remake of Disney’s 1992 animated classic — about a street urchin trying to wow a princess, with the help of a blue genie he freed from a magic lamp — is to suppress all memories of that movie.

Despite all the scale and pageantry, this new reimagining, helmed by Guy Ritchie, is oddly muted, light on wonderment, and spiritless, especially in the Bollywood-style musical sequences. Ritchie can do action with his arm tied behind his back (see Sherlock Holmes), but staging song-and-dance numbers clearly isn't in his wheelhouse.

Naomi Scott, as alluring as she is as Jasmine, shares little chemistry with Mena Massoud’s dull title hero. As the wish-granting genie, Will Smith revisits his Fresh Prince persona to replicate Robin Williams’s freewheeling energy in the original version. But there’s only so much Smith can do: He’s going up against an iconic animated character voiced by a peerless comic genius. Is it possible for him to improve on perfection?

Make a wish: Will Smith as the genie in 'Aladdin'.


Elsewhere, there is a new rousing female-empowerment ballad ‘Speechless’, and Billy Magnusson (aka the token white dude in an ethnically diverse ensemble) in a newly-minted, kinda amusing role of Prince Anders, a dim-witted European suitor of Jasmine.

You don’t need a hypnotherapist to forget this new Aladdin: it will do that on its own after the house lights are up. Just stick with the original. (**1/2)

​​​​​​​ Photo: Disney

1 of 3 Unholy pact: Ma Dong-Seok and Kim Mu-Yeol have a serial killer to track down.


The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (NC16)

Starring Kim Mu-Yeol, Kim Sung-Kyu, Ma Dong-Seok

Directed by Lee Won-Tae

The mismatched buddy-cop formula gets a makeover in this Korean thriller. The twist? One of the cops ain’t a cop, but a crime boss (hulking teddy bear Ma Dong-Seok) who survives an attack by a serial killer (Kim Seong-Gyu). He teams up with a hot-headed detective (Kim Mu-Yeol) on the case. As serial killer flicks go, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is no Memories of Murder or Chaser, but the leads’ enjoyable bickering makes up for the occasional slack pacing. Perhaps the Hollywood remake, with Sylvester Stallone directing and Ma reprising the title role, might iron out the flaws. (***)

Photo: Clover Films

  • 2 of 3 Seeking shelter: Stanley Tucci leads his family to a quiet place in 'The Silence'.


    The Silence (PG13)

    Starring Kiernan Shipka, Stanley Tucci, Mirando Otto

    Directed by John R Leonetti

    Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Kiernan Shipka plays a deaf teen on the run with her family from aurally-enhanced winged predators. To survive, they must, well, stay silent. This A Quiet Place redux — based on Tim Lebbon’s novel published two years before John Krasinski's creature-feature came out — is serviceable if a tad underwhelming, but the overqualified cast (including Stanley Tucci and Miranda Otto) keep things engaging. There’re a few decent scares (notably a home siege by a doomsday cult) but none of them can beat the childbirth or nail-in-foot sequence in A Quiet Place, already with a sequel on its way. (**1/2)

    ​​​​​​​ Photo: Shaw Organisation

  • 3 of 3 Hello from the other side: Zac Efron plays a different kind of lady killer.


    Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile (M18)

    Starring Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Angela Sarafyan, Jim Parsons

    Directed by Joe Berlinger

    Zac Efron subverts his teen-idol reputation to portray a different kind of lady killer: Ted Bundy, the serial killer who murdered at least 30 women in the 1970s. But this isn’t an exploitative biopic: it doesn’t depict Bundy’s grisly handiwork, just him in and out of courtrooms, trying to convince his girlfriend (Lily Collins) that he’s been falsely accused. (The title’s taken from the judge’s statement when sentencing Bundy in 1979.) Joe Berlinger’s film feels a tad hollow and is better appreciated after you've watched his Netflix docu-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, released early this year.​​​​​​​ (**1/2)

    Photo: Shaw Organisation


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