WEB DESK: Until now, the teaser trailers for Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, out May 24, have been greeted by audiences with a lot of wincing and a side of curiosity.
The first teaser, which debuted in October, contained a lot of pomp but very few glimpses of the verisimilitude (and copious CGI magic) we’ve come to expect from Disney’s live-action spectacles so far (see: Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book). It mainly showed off a lot of sand and rock.
The second teaser was better, in that it offered a slightly better idea of what to expect from the remake. But it also gave rise to bafflement and skepticism when Will Smith’s genie turned out to look like little more than Will Smith in blue body paint.
But now, finally, Disney’s first full-length trailer for the film has given audiences a proper look at Aladdin’s world, and it’s starting to resemble the fun, snappy tale of adventure that fans know and love.
And crucially, the remake is starting to feel like less of a mess than it’s seemed to be so far. That’s saying a lot, given how many hurdles this particular project has to overcome.
Granted, it’s still just a trailer, so it only works so well as a barometer for the film as a whole. But it suggests that the movie is trying to mitigate Aladdin’s weighty cultural baggage. And that’s an important step.
