Aladdin and the Death Lamp has an interesting premise for an adult rendition of Disney's classic. Away with the music and in with the gore, this film is a dark fantasy and definitely grim in many aspects. And while it holds promise, it is still a VERY flawed film.
Firstly, the presentation. The art direction and cinematography is not all that bad. The locations are presented well and there are some well shot sequences for the most part. The costumes look good and the props are authentic. But that's the thing: this movie's real assets are great, until the digital assets come in. The CGI and VFX are terrible. Absolutely terrible. The way it interacts with the actors and the world is very off-putting and makes everything look extremely cheap. While the geanie (Jinn) is the best use of the VFX - which isn't saying much - other VFX like JPEGs and PNGs for environmental backdrops just comes off as EXTREMELY cheap.
Lastly, the narrative. The premise is good and an intriguing twist to Disney's iconic character - albeit, there's no link, which allows for a more original story. But the story's development doesn't do the premise justice, in terms of actually fleshing out the world and the Jinns. The script itself is actually fairly decent. The dialogue in the first half of the movie is not bad. It's snappy, filled with character and clever at times. The way scenes are set up also warrants some credit. Performances from the main cast are also not too bad, with Darren Shalhavi (Aladdin) presenting a fun energy to the character, and his supporting members doing their characters some justice. But the second half of the movie starts to fall apart a bit. While the plot is fairly consistent - even with some predictable plot points - the characters become very stale and the dialogue becomes very one note. It's a shame because the character building in the first half of the movie was actually decently done and served its purpose for a good set of character arcs. But the end of the movie ends up turning these characters and their dialogue into generic tropes.
Aladdin and the Death Lamp is good on paper and has an entertaining start, but becomes one note and generic near the end. The script could've been fleshed out more, but it's decent for what it is. The performances from the main cast is also pretty good, until the second half becomes overly serious and the direction feels lackluster. The VFX are embarrassing and cheap, but the art direction and costume designs help to redeem the visual aspect a bit.
What this movie could've done right was to reduce the spectacle - because its budget clearly wasn't up for it - as well as further develop the main characters with more dimensional arcs. If the script kept its consistency from the first half and maintained it throughout the film, this wouldn't have been as terrible as film. And if the VFX had more effort and time for polish - or at least if it was implemented in a way that works for the budget and still works for the film - the presentation wouldn't have felt wasted.
