Navid Negahban – Movies of the Soul

What is the movie about? :: Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a young man living in the streets of Agrabah with his pet monkey, with no parents and no idea about family. He is considered as a petty thief living in the streets, stealing one thing or the other to keep going, and his monkey is not far behind in the same skill. In the streets, he meet Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) who has dressed up as a commoner and is wandering in the streets. After giving some bread to a few starving children without paying for the same, they are chased by the soldiers, and she leaves him with the idea that he is just a thief, as he fails to return her bracelet which his monkey had taken. But Aladdin decides to get it back to the lady whom he misunderstands as the princess’ handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad). At a time when she is bothered by suitors from different nations like Prince Anders (Billy Magnussen), Aladdin sneaks into the palace.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: His skills are noticed by the Grand Vizier Jafar (Marwan Kenzari), the chief advisor to The Sultan (Navid Negahban). Even though he is the second most powerful person in the kingdom, he wants more, and for the same, he needs a magic lamp hidden within the Cave of Wonders. It is a near impossible task, and as Aladdin enters the palace unnoticed, he decides to use the skills of the young man to get the lamp from the cave which has been unkind to those who tried to take the lamp earlier. In return for the same, he offers the youth from the street infinite riches and even the attention of the princess. But as Aladdin gets into the cave, he realizes that it is no ordinary cave, and the lamp is not the usual one – it has the Genie (Will Smith) who is ready with three wishes. But will that be enough to marry the beautiful princess?

And what more is to happen? :: Genie hopes that the last wish of Aladdin would be about setting him free. Jafar hopes that he could get his hands on the magic lamp at some point. Jasmine hopes that it is not just her curves that is loved by her suitors, but also her ideas, with a desire to become the ruler of her kingdom one day. Aladdin would go back to the palace by the name Prince Ali, and hope to gain the attention of the princess and win her hand. But it turns out that Jasmine is not at all interested in the newly arrived prince despite him displaying all the wealth that Genie had brought. Despite Jasmine’s lack of interest, there would be Jaffar’s interest, as his evil plans continue. With his desire to become the most powerful man in the kingdom as well as the known world, what could stop him? Will there be a better fate in store for the kingdom?

The defence of Aladdin :: The memories of childhood comes back with Aladdin, as we remember those days of watching a lot of cartoon and that music which goes by the lines, Arabian Nights. Nostalgia surely becomes a grand factor here, and not just Princess Jasmine, but also her handmaiden remains adorable. Even though there is nothing spectacular about the fight scenes, the visual beauty can be seen there as well as with the city itself. The whole place is nicely built, and the magical elements add to the visuals well. There are some nice fun sequences around here, and Will Smith plays the big part in the same. These keep the fun element going. Coming from the man who brought Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, along with The Man from UNCLE, one could surely guess a few things about this one, and raise the level of expectations.

The claws of flaw :: The problem here is that there is the feeling of not being able to make this one better than what we had seen in the past, even though the ideas as well as technology did improve a lot. A visual extravaganza in the desert could have meant more. The Arabian Nights song version here is not that interesting as the original one, and often the Genie fails to rise as the character and becomes more of the actor that plays the same – Will Smith. At the expense of making the main female character stronger, the viewers are presented with a weaker villain who never really seems like he could come up with something terrifying. The changes from the original version are not really improvements, but strange diversions that take the essence away from what we know about Aladdin – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could actually do this better, whichever way we look at the same.

The performers of the soul :: The top performer of this movie is Naomi Scott, and she goes through the whole movie with charm, scoring heavily in the final moments. One can see that she plays her character to such perfection at some moments that we feel that she could do well with a sequel, further away from the original Aladdin story. She is lovely to watch on the screen from the beginning, to the end. Mena Massoud’s titular character is memorable, and has his own moments. Will Smith brings the funny side very well, even though deviated from our idea of a genie – some are surely overdone, but he holds on really well. Marwan Kenzari as Jafar brings a weaker villain, and one has to wonder if that was intentional. Nasim Pedrad as Dalia is a fine addition of a character. The animal characters are nicely worked on too.

How it finishes :: Aladdin makes an interesting watch with family, especially with kids. It keeps going the light-hearted way, and there is no real menace to be seen, as we go through this safe trip. The movie could have actually began with its action rather than using the story within the story setting – it ruins the chance to bring a certain twist. Well, Aladdin could have been lesser like Robin Hood last year, and there were so many chances of it to miss out, but it does hold on and brings Aladdin well enough to touch our nostalgia. With Avengers: Endgame and John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum continuing to stay, this one can also accompany them, as Hollywood movies have been scoring bigger these days. Also, lets wonder what more could have been added to this particular movie.

Release date: 24th May 2019
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen

<— Click here to go to an earlier review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl :: Yes, I have heard that they are showing all those Oscar nominated movies there in the multiplex, or at least those which they have chosen.

Vampire Bat :: Some of the movies have made a return while the others have arrived for the very first time. Which one would you choose?

Vampire Owl :: I choose none. I shall not watch award movies. It has been a policy – an owlified policy.

Vampire Bat :: But some of them are certified good.

Vampire Owl :: I don’t fall for such certification. I have been a prey to such opinions for too long a time. And what is Guardians of the Galaxy and Interstellar doing there? They should have tried for those movies which didn’t release here instead.

Vampire Bat :: But most of the movies in that list never released here, and without the Oscar nominations, might have never even come near here.

Vampire Owl :: Still, I say no to any of those movies. I am a stubborn Vampire Owl. It is in my blood, my pure, centuries old bloodline.

Vampire Bat :: I shall go for American Sniper then.

Vampire Owl :: And make a pick for these Oscars. Lets see if your prediction powers work after centuries of experience.

Vampire Bat :: I have only watched The Grand Budapest Hotel among the movies which have received nomination for the best picture. Lets see how American Sniper adds to it.

[Goes to the theatre].

What is it about? :: The movie tells the real life story of a man from Texas, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), who becomes sad and outraged at the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings and decides to join the United States Navy and be of service to his nation which has been a target of external terrorist forces. He undergoes the training and finally becomes a United States Navy SEAL sniper. After meeting Taya Renae (Sienna Miller) at a bar and falling into a relationship, he marries her, only to be posted at Iraq for the war against terrorism after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Beginning with sniper shots on a woman and a child who were trying to attack the troops with grenades, he feels the pain, but continues to go on and become the most known sniper and the one with the most kills. The biggest challenge for him would be take out an expert enemy sniper who wanders around in the shadows – but there is also his family back home.

The defence of American Sniper :: I was skeptical about watching this movie, and I had wondered how it will go as an American war movie, and this one completely managed to rise above my expectations. The movie nicely combines so many elements of the war and successfully comes out as an anti-war movie. Everything is shown with so much passion and detail. The message is clear and against the ever-lasting devastation that the war causes and the darkness of nothingness that terrorism can lead to. Bradley Cooper is the man who steals the show with almost every second as this is a movie about his character and what he has done. He also has gained a lot of weight for the role as it seems and is known. He does deserve the Academy Award for the Best Actor, and an absence of nomination would have surprised me a lot. Sienna Miller joins in and does her job in so much of a believable manner.

Positives and Negatives :: The negatives are hard to find with American Sniper. May be you can find something if you have a problem with realistic depictions, or may be you can dig deeper than me find something else. May be for some of you, there was not enough entertainment. But it was there for me, and there might have been a very minute drag here and there, but I never felt that. If you need to create controversy out of something which is not there, I am not giving into it. You might have your bloody agenda, but for one second, think about it from the point of view of a soldier – it is what the movie is about. You can complain that the end was too soon, but the movie was never really about the end, but the soul of this flick itself was the world that it portrayed. As it takes us to the battlefield and the clear flow of emotions back home, one has to accept and admit that this was the best way things could have been linked and shown on the big screen in a realistic manner.

Soul exploration :: Well, the movie leaves the question about who can be blamed. Can you blame a soldier for doing what he is supposed to do to support his troops and help his fallen comrades? Do we even think about what goes through the mind of a trooper as he obeys an order from the top or when he has to make a choice between saving his people and humanity? What are those things that he has to live with in the end? With those things that he did or with those things that he couldn’t do? Forget this sniper being American, and think beyond the limits of nationality. What about an Indian soldier who gets killed by a terrorist at the border? What about our unsung heroes who deserves better than being shot at by a militant from the other side of the border? Lets forget all the politics behind this and the setting and think about it from the point of view of a soldier who sets off to serve his nation. They deserve the salute for keeping the nation and its citizens first, despite the nationality. It is on their blood that each nation stands, and for trauma that they face and for their selfless service, they should be treated the best, not some random cricketer.

On the Academy Awards :: ***These are my hopes on the 87th Academy Awards which you can avoid, if you want to! As the date for the Academy Awards is coming near, The Grand Budapest Hotel remains the only other movie amond the list of nominations for Best Picture that I have watched, and even as I haven’t finalized on a rating, I would give a 92/100 for that, and consider American Sniper a well-ahead movie. I was hoping to watch The Imitation Game the most among those movies which were in the list, but missed that. I couldn’t come close to being interested in Whiplash, and I have decided against an overdose with the other movies which do provide me with a good timing. May be I don’t want to destroy that good experience that American Sniper has given me. I am afraid in that case, because my taste often creates a case of wonder for myself.

The Waiting Continues :: I do hope that Bradley Cooper does win the Best Actor Award for this movie, and Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl because I have that feeling that those were the performances which can’t be easily matched. I also hope that How to Train Your Dragon 2 win the Best Animated Feature Film Award instead of the overrated Big Hero 6 which thinks that it is Frozen with some irritating hero fans. Captain America: The Winter Soldier should also win something for the Best Visual Effects compared to the other overrated nominations – that is my hope. Well, American Sniper does deserve a lot more than just some nominations and a few winnings, as it deserves big – and that something that I would surely like to see after watching this movie. May this movie has more people with brain and heart watching at the multiplexes rather than the narrow minded ones! India needs a movie like this, and the only one which I can remember that stays strong is Tango Charlie.

Release date: 16th January 2015
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Max Charles, Luke Grimes, Kyle Gallner, Sam, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Navid Negahban, Eric Close, Eric Ladin, Rey Gallegos, Brian Hallisay, Ben Reed, Elise Robertson, Keir O’Donnell, Marnette Patterson, Leonard Roberts, Sammy Sheik, Mido Hamada