ChrisLyne wrote:
The Art & Making of Aladdin says it builds so I'll try and reserve judgment until I see the full thing.
That makes me feel a little bit better because maybe it becomes more energized towards the end, building to a crescendo.
ChrisLyne wrote:
I know I'm crazily bias towards the stage cast but James would have been perfect. I'm still hopeful for Will Smith as I've liked the chemistry I've seen between him and Mena so far, I was just hoping for a bit more on the singing.
I've liked the chemistry between Smith and his co-leads as well and from early audience reactions, people have been surprised at how he shines in this role. Still think his singing could have been dubbed though.
WarriorDreamer wrote:I would say I understand how you feel, but at least one big star helps to secure a film as a blockbuster movie, and not a small art-house film.
Like ChrisLyne said, a Disney film with a big-budget and endless amounts of promotion like this will never be considered a small art-house film, regardless of the cast. It was always going to draw audiences with or without Smith and considering that all the bad press this film has gotten so far revolves around his character (the bad Genie effects, the lackluster singing), maybe it would have been better without him.
Sotiris wrote:That may had to do with budgetary constraints. They couldn't have Will constantly transforming into other things and people like in the original 'cause for each new transformation they would have to build a CG model and rig it and animate it from scratch. And considering the poor job they did with the blue genie and Raja, this actually may be for the best.
ChrisLyne wrote:They also said (I think in the Art & Making of but might have been an interview) that there are less Genie transformations because they looked freaky/off in live action. They'd never admit it but I do agree with Sotiris that budget was likely a big factor as well.
I don't understand the issues with budget since clearly they have no issues in that regard with Star Wars or Marvel films. Disney should consider their budget a little more carefully for a live-action remake like this because the entire reason that Aladdin got so much bad press in the beginning was because of its awful effects. And now the second controversy, over the Prince Ali sequence, is getting similar criticism because of how mundane and localized it all looks. Clearly pumping in more money will yield more money.
