dir. Glenn Campbell
The Adventures of Aladdin is another classic, obvious rip-off from the infamous Asylum production studio. And it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect. It’s a live action reimagining of Disney’s Aladdin tale, but with all the humour, charm and intelligence stripped out (again, classic Asylum). Aladdin in this version is an acrobat rather than a thief, and has a band of fellow acrobats rather than a monkey companion. Princess Jasmine is replaced with Sultana Shahzadi, and Jafar is now Maghreb. Aladdin is wide-eyed and bland; Shahzadi makes vacant statements as she flutters her eyelashes; Maghreb sneers and prances around, just short of “I AM EVIL” being stamped across his head. The school play levels of acting are matched by cheap costumes and shockingly poor special effects, so it’s feasible to believe this was done on next-to-no budget. On the other hand, The Adventures of Aladdin actually has a couple of small plus points: one of Aladdin’s friends loves him while he loves Shahzadi, providing a genuinely compelling conflict, and the movie actually gives the classic genie of the lamp a name. But none of this can justify the idiotic dialogue, a climax involving a giant CGI chameleon-dragon, and the whiplash-inducing realisation that the film’s entire plot – from village to cave of wonders to palace to another palace to desert trek to final battle – explicitly takes place within a single day. The Adventures of Aladdin is pretty blatant about what it is, and this is a definite case where it’s wise to judge a book by its cover.
BMDb 