ALADDIN 8 out of 10; Directed by Guy Ritchie; Written by John August and Guy Ritchie; Starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, and Alan Tudyk; Rated PG for some action/peril; Running time 128 minutes; In wide release May 24.

Bringing Disney’s 1992 animated hit Aladdin to the big screen in a live action production is no small feat. The Broadway version removed Abu and Iago (no doubt due to logistics), but the magic of computer animation returns these characters to the beloved tale of a boy, a Genie, and a princess.

Interestingly, the new film probably utilizes as much if not more animation than the original film for Will Smith’s Genie alone. And though I think many questioned his casting because, let’s face it, they’d question anyone not the late great Robin Williams, Smith makes the character his own. With perhaps a bit less improv and more subplot, the Genie no doubt will endear himself to a new generation of audiences.

My one complaint would be the Genie’s eyes. Did they really need to CGI Smith’s eyes to such a degree? Very unsettling. Like Renesmee unsettling if you know what I mean. (I hope you don’t.) 

The basic story remains the same: street rat Aladdin (Mena Massoud) has a chance encounter with Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) on the streets of Agrabah and begins to dream of a better life. An opportunity comes in the shape of Royal Vizier Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) who presents him with a quest to obtain a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Returning as the Cave’s voice is Frank Welker, voice talent extraordinaire and also the voice of Abu and Rajah in the 1992 film.

Of all the talent in the film, I was most disappointed with Jafar. His character went the opposite of Jonathan Freeman’s out of control, snide, slimy villain–Kenzari’s Jafar is soft-spoken, mostly mild-mannered (a facade, of course), and, quite frankly, dull. Iago (Alan Tudyk) is more sinister. And couldn’t he have called Aladdin Prince Abubu just once? Missed opportunity. Unless he did and I missed it. 

Jasmine, however, is the standout in the film. She has a role that moves even beyond her expanded story in the Broadway version. And a new solo song that I think will resonate with a lot of women. Her handmaiden/best friend is played by Nasim Pedrad, and can we talk a moment about Jasmine’s costumes? Beautiful corseted pieces that probably aren’t remotely historically or geographically accurate, but this is a fictional land, right? The colors are vibrant, and there’s so much sparkle! 

By the way, if you’ve seen the movie, did you get a Newsies vibe during One Jump Ahead? Not sure if it was the dancing or the music or both. Probably the new arrangement of the music, as Alan Menken wrote for both the animated film and the new one, as well as composing for Newsies.

And finally, the director. I might have forgotten it was a Guy Ritchie film (not nearly as much violence as in his other films) except for several instances of extreme slow motion. And immediately it brought to mind his Sherlock films. I think that style is a bit unusual for a Disney adaptation, but I feel it worked for the specific scenes where it was used. 

Overall, a fun, faithful adaptation with some new twists and turns. 

While most of us know Alan Tudyk as Wash from Firefly and Serenity, he’s had a steady career in the years since that role came to an untimely end. Like a leaf on the wind, he’s moved from project to project, performing voices in Disney films including Frozen and Big Hero Six to the ultimate role—droid K-2SO in the upcoming Star Wars film Rogue One, scheduled for a December release.

Most of his time and energy, however, is poured into Con Man, a crowdfunded web series he created. Tudyk stars as Wray Nearly, a struggling actor who once played a spaceship captain on the TV series Spectrum. He now visits cons and meets his fans. Talk about life imitating art! Or moreso art imitating life?

And now there’s Con Man: The Game! The free Sims-style game is available on Apple and GooglePlay, and it allows users to build their own con. The game, which will constantly be updated, contains Easter eggs and nods to various fan favorites, such as Stargate, Deadpool, and the Whedonverse.

Tudyk, joined by producer P.J. Haarsma and actor Nolan North at Dragon Con over Labor Day weekend, discussed Season 2 of Con Man (Lou Ferrigno plays Lenny in Of Mice and Men, the musical), the new game, as well as Star Wars and other projects.

One of Tudyk’s favorite roles was Simon in Death at a Funeral, directed by none other than Frank Oz. Yes, Frank Oz of Miss Piggy and Yoda fame. Speaking of Yoda, (which leads directly to Star Wars) Tudyk also mentioned that working on Rogue One was a great experience. ILM’s makeup for characters who aren’t anything other than walking action figures is extraordinary, he said. When I had the chance to speak to him one on one, as he wore an ILM Rogue One cap, he mentioned (jokingly?) the catering improved nearing the end of production, as the crew for Episode VIII began moving in. 

His memories of Star Wars growing up? “It was like Jaws . . . it was huge and respected. I remember going to see Darth Vader at the mall . . . I was so afraid. It was just some guy in a suit. He didn’t say anything. My brother and I were terrified.”

Of Star Wars fans, he said, “It’s a different group of fans . . . people are serious about Star Wars. Don’t mess it up.” He attended Star Wars Celebration in Europe over the summer and no doubt collected tons of stories to introduce in future seasons of Con Man. We as fans can be rather, um, passionate. But I say this as someone who totally does not have a Yoda shrine. No. Not me. Not at all.

Shifting the conversation back to conventions, one of the more positive sides of cons and fandom, producer Haarsma mentioned, is the charity work done by fan groups such as the Browncoats (Firefly) and the 501^st Legion (Star Wars). 

Hopefully Tudyk, Haarsma, and North had a fantastic time at Dragon Con and collected many amazing stories to share in future seasons of Con Man. Personally speaking, it was one of the best years of Dragon Con ever, and if you’ve never attended, be sure to go next year! Dragon Con is always held over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. 

This article originally appeared on the Salt Lake Comic Con Blog.

Image: Salt Lake Comic Con

With acting credits that span across the spectrum of stage, screen and video games, Alan Tudyk is perhaps best known for his role as the character Wash in Firefly and Serenity. The enigmatic Tudyk walked onto the stage of the south ballroom at the Salt Palace Convention Center wearing a black button-up shirt over the top of a t-shirt with the word “nerd” emblazoned in red. He smiled, waved at the crowd, set down a large bag and then took a seat in a director’s chair. The roaring applause began to die down when Mr. Tudyk turned to look at the back of the stage and that’s when he commented, “Wow, there are a lot of people in here. I wonder what’s going to entertain us?”

The fans erupted in applause and as it quieted back down, a member of the audience shouted a popular quote from Alan’s character in Serenity, “You are a leaf on the wind!” Alan didn’t miss a step and replied:

“You know what I’ve realized? I don’t know if you want to hear this, but a leaf on the wind… is dead. It is cut off from the life source.”

Mr. Tudyk did not need a moderator, only the bag he had brought with him on stage. He told the crowd that the bag was full of random things from around his home and that he always brought a “bag of [expletive]” with him to conventions. He quickly noticed a young one in the crowd and apologized for the use of language but insisted that the bag was indeed a “bag of [expletive]”. He left the reason for the bag and its contents a mystery and started into the thick of his time with Salt Lake Comic Con attendees in the South Ballroom.

I don’t know if you want to hear this, but a leaf on the wind… is dead

During the Q&A, the “I, Robot” star took a novel approach. He had fans come up to the stage, taking turns sitting in one of three chairs he had set up to his right. He then rotated eager fans from the line to the chairs and asked them questions before they could ask him a question in return. After each fan had answered one of Mr. Tudyk’s whimsical – and often personal – questions in front of thousands of strangers, Alan would allow the fan to ask him a question back. This trading of questions would continue and Alan would then sign a different item from his bag of “stuff” and then send the happy contestant back to their seat. The format of the panel flowed naturally as Alan commanded the stage from beginning to end. The panel of his own design was a dash of improvisation and a bit of Salt Lake Comic Con magic. His charisma and wit were electrifying.

Questions from Alan to the fans he brought on stage with him were seemingly random but very entertaining. Two examples of his crazy questions to fans were:

• “What is the grossest thing to happen to you?”
• “With the exception of your family, who do you have to struggle to not call bad names?”

Alan stopped a fan named Emily from answering the second question by saying to her and the crowd, “That’s a negative question, get rid of that one.” Emily was fast to counter with, “I could answer but I don’t want to lose my job”.

Mr. Tudyk was searching for a great question to finish the panel strong but he had to revise his question several times before deciding on the one he liked the most. His final question for Emily was almost:

• “What was the last thing you stole?”
• “Have you ever struck anything with your car that you regretted?”
• “What do you most regret setting on fire?”
• “Have you ever cheated on anyone before?”

The crowd loved the question he settled on when Alan asked, “If you could be any freak in the circus freak show, what freak would you like to be?” Emily responded, saying that she’d like to be a contortionist twirling on fabric in the air. Mr. Tudyk was delighted with her answer, exclaiming, “You could call yourself the Pretzel Lady and people could pay to sprinkle salt on you!”

For the most part, fans asked Alan tough questions. The best of the fan questions for Alan were:

• “[Out of the people you’ve worked with] who would you say is very talented?”
• “Who was your inspiration?”
• “What is your method to getting into character?”
• “On the set of Firefly, where there any practical jokes or what was the funniest thing that ever happened?”

Every item he signed for fans from his bag of… “stuff”… was signed with a pen he’d received from his “Firefly” co-star and FanX alum Nathan Fillion. The pen seemed to give him a little trouble, almost as if the smeared ink was a personal gag from afar by Mr. Fillion. That would have been extremely fitting, considering Alan’s answer to the question about who played the best tricks on the set of Firefly – he told a story about a particularly funny practical joke he was on the receiving end of.

During the filming of Firefly, Alan walked onto a set that was plastered with childhood photos of himself. The very moment he realized he was surrounded by images of himself and his childhood friends, he knew that the master prankster behind the joke was his friend Nathan Fillion.

The panel went just over the allotted time and ended with a rousing applause and a standing ovation. By the end of the hour, Alan had answered a bunch of questions and also given away the following items: a ball cap from Reelz Channel that he got while interviewing Nathan Fillion;  an “Astro Boy” t-shirt because he voiced some characters in it; an old tape recorder with a quick voice recording that said, “This is Alan Tudyk. Thank you for your question”; some old Prada sunglasses he bought for “I, Robot” that he only wore as eye shields while cutting with a saw because a pretty girl told him they didn’t fit his face; a book given to him at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon that he ran in; a t-shirt with a stake going through several people he got as a gift and was re-gifting; the “Beastie Boys Anthology”; a harmonica used by John Popper, the lead singer of Blues Traveler, complete with Popper slobber; and aFirefly t-shirt showing Wash with a red button in his hands, which he gave to Joss Whedon when he said, “Call us all back.”

If Salt Lake Comic Con fans could request one more item from Mr. Tudyk, it would be that he come back to visit us all next year – and we promise to throw in a t-shirt.

 
Photo: @Brandigirlio

Mark Avo AKA Zendobot can usually be found reviewing comic books and picking out his favorite moments every week for “Five and Three” right here on Big Shiny Robot. You can also find him writing and inking The Salt City Strangers comic book or pretending he’s an expert for The Undead Soup Podcast (http://undeadsoup.com/undead2/). You can delight or even heckle him with your tweets @MarkAvo and he’ll be totally thrilled.

Image credits for this article belong to the Salt Lake Comic Con