The New Adventures of Aladdin is a French production, and seems mostly to be a vehicle for its star, Kev Adams. This retelling of the classic Arabian Nights tale seems to be have been somewhat hastily put together, its never really coming together into a unified whole. This is a film for kids that gets a little too crass, or a comedy for teens that gets a little too childish. The film doesn’t really seem sure what its star’s main appeal is, and it ends up taking a pretty confused approach.
Sam (Kev Adams) is lying is to his girlfriend about working in finance. The truth is, he's a mall Santa, and he and his friend are hoping to use their position in the shopping center as a means to do some robbing. While there, Sam is cornered by some kids asking for a story. He starts telling them a version of the story of Aladdin (also Kev Adams), a thief from Baghdad who finds a magic lamp home to a genie. Granted seven wishes, Aladdin starts making life much better for himself. And in telling the story, Sam teaches himself a few lessons.
The framing device of Sam telling the story in present day gives the film a chance to go beyond a simple retelling of the classic story. At times, it peppers in some modern sensibilities. The first gag, for example, is Aladdin hotwiring a magic carpet to steal it. And then there's a big rap number in the middle of the film that's presented like a music video. And there are bits where the events in the shopping center affect what's going on in the story, Sam shaping the narrative to fit what the kids want.
It's kind of a clever conceit, except the movie doesn't really make use of it enough. For the most part, it sticks to the basic elements of the Aladdin tale, while adding a layer of juvenile humor to the mix. And the humor ranges from fart jokes to outright sexual innuendo. It's a weird mix to say the least. Ostensibly, this is a story told to children, and the movie itself is aimed for that same demographic. But the film has a tendency to go crass, offering content that feels out of place given the context of the narrative.
Complicating matters is that the film, originally in French, is dubbed in English. The dialogue isn't particularly witty to begin with, but the added layer of translation renders some scenes utterly devoid of comedy. The movie seems to be pretty reliant on wordplay, and that kind of stuff rarely works in an English dub. The dubbing also gets in the way of the performances. Comedic timing is a very specific thing, and it's tough to get that across when another person's voice is being used. Kev Adams' facial expressions are pretty on point, but almost none of his lines land.
Of course, even if The New Adventures of Aladdin wasn't dubbed in English, it still wouldn't be very good. The movie seems oddly positioned. It's a story told to children complete with a moral, but its humor skews pretty adult. It kind of wants to be a fantasy spectacle, but exhibits little of the skill and resources to make that possible. Really, this is just the French equivalent of the lowbrow Hollywood comedy, the movie mostly built around a star that isn’t averse to a succession of fart jokes. It isn’t that they couldn’t do any better; it’s just that they’re aren’t really trying.
My Rating:
