Aladdin and the King of Thieves -Disney Presents-

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Maybe You Don't Want to Meet Daddy
The big day has finally arrived. The entire kingdom has turned out for Aladdin (Scott Weinger) and Jasmine's (Linda Larkin) wedding. Thanks to the Genie (Robin Williams), it looks to be a spectacular day. But then tragedy strikes. The 40 Thieves attack the wedding and try to steal just one present. Yes, that's right. But that present turns out to be an oracle that will answer one question. And through that oracle, Aladdin learns that his father is still alive. What he doesn't realize is that his father, Cassim (John Rhys-Davies), is the leader of the thieves. The family reunion pits Aladdin against Sa'luk (Jerry Orbach) who isn't happy with the way that Cassim has been running the gang. How will Jasmine react to the identity of Aladdin's father? Can Aladdin reform his dad? And how many different Disney movies can Robin Williams reference? This movie was better then I remembered. Having Robin Williams back as the voice of Genie really made a huge difference. And his many Disney references absolutely cracked me up. The story moved along fairly quickly, when it wasn't sabotaged by the songs. While some of the songs were fun in the last one, here they are all boring. They should have taken them out and just let the movie be that much shorter. This is still only an average follow up to a great film. But fans of the original will enjoy it, and it will keep kids entertained.

Suprising
All the Disney DTV sequels--or, as we sometimes refer to them in our homes, "cheap-quels"--have been bad. Or horrible. My problem with most of them is not actually with the movie itself, but with the all-but-inevitable leeching off of the original. Continuing a story that's already resolved or telling the same story as the first one are the M.O. for your average cheapquel--not remotely entertaining, just a ploy to make money The surprising thing about this movie is the fact that it ISN'T your average cheapquel. There may be an element of nostalgia in this review, but watching it again recently, I was surprised at how much of it still actually stood up as a decent movie, with actual quality in it. Despite the unavoidable stealing from the previous movies, this one actually DOES present some new material--and much of the story told is very creative and interesting. The new characters add a dimension to the old characters and the world that they inhabit, rather than simply ripping off or rehashing the first or second movie. The forty thieves and Caseem are interesting with their individual ways of fighting and talking. The Vanishing Isle is especially amazing, coming in a DTV feature, and the Oracle, despite some flaws, has an amazingly cool design and quality effects surrounding it. That sort of thought in character and design is exactly the kind of thing that the original Disney encouraged. Also, this movie didn't contradict already-existing characters' traits; this is another of my pet peeves. Aladdin was clearly himself, with no made-up flaws or strengths added to him--the same goes for the Genie and even Jasmine, Abu, Carpet, and Iago. (The only exception was Jasmine's sudden expertise in karate, but I suppose this was because it was the 90's, when every female was a black-belt--no matter their background or age.) The fact that they made the movie stand (relatively) alone is a great tribute to the makers as well. The original plan was to use a character from the TV show, Mozenrath, and reveal him to be Aladdin's brother. The fact that they had the confidence in their own storytelling abilities to scrap that plan and go with introducing Aladdin's father made the film much more interesting, opening up more possibilities for the story and the characters. Many of the sequences in the film are amazingly creative--again, see the Vanishing Isle sequence--and many of them are actually moving--the Challenge is surprisingly gripping, with effects like rim lighting and shadows. The animation, all in all, is better than your average TV show--which is what the animators were used to working on. The music, especially the score, performs surprisingly well for what its status in a cheapquel movie would entail. The voices, especially Caseem, Saluk, and of course the Genie (Robin Williams is back!) gave the movie, again, something new. All in all, this movie is surprisingly well done, in every sense. Though not feature quality, it's the only one of its kind that seems to get past being the sequel to a very successful movie, offering new material and creative ideas. For what it should have been, it is amazingly good. I'd at least give it a rent, if not a buy--even if it does drift to the back of your video drawer, it's a pleasant surprise to pull out on a rainy day.

Worthy of the Original
Aladdin and the King of Thieves is a great film. The best character is Aladdin's long-lost father - Cassim, the leader of the legendary forty thieves. A little Temple of Doom, a little swashbuckling, a little Sinbad, great costume designs, a lot of action and adventure, and a surprisingly thoughtful script. A must-have for Disney and Aladdin fans. The story begins as Al and Jasime prepare to be wed. The wedding is interrupted by the mysterious King of Thieves, after a treasure in Jasmine's wedding gifts. Aladdin seeks to have a relationship with his father, but how can he if their lifestyles are so different? Or are they really the same? Like real life, nothing is cut-and-dry or simple about this reunion. Really well-done, and Robin Williams provides great comic relief. I laughed out loud a couple of times at some references to other Disney characters. "Pocahontas!"

Robin Williams is Back In The Blue!
This DTV sequel of Aladdin would not have been as great without the talents of Robin Williams. The animation is very DTV-ish, with the exception of the Vanishing Isle sequence. The music is fair, but does not capture the spirit of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman or Tim Rice's music. The story is about Aladdin and Jasmine getting married. During the ceremony, a band of forty thieves bust in. The king of thieves is actually Aladdin's long lost dad, Kasim [John Rhyes Davies of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy]. The villain here is Saluk, played by the late Jerry Orbachs, who you probably know from Law & Order and Beauty and the Beast. Robin Williams brings back all his wackiness and impersonations, including Forest Gump, Woody Allen, a funny spoof of the Osmonds.[''Boys! Come out here and see what's happening!''], Pumbaa, Mickey Mouse, and Rambo. The funniest scenes are when Genie is trying to cheer up Jasmine and a wild scene in The Vanishing Isle.

Skip it
I can't believe how poor this movie was. The original Aladdin was great. This was terrible. Robin Williams is truly talented, but he was was overused in this movie. The plot was convoluted. This movie was boring and couldn't hold the attention of 3 kids who really like the original. Skip this movie. There are many better Disney movies to see.