Aladdin (2019) 3D Movie Review

Written By: Krista Strom

3D

I watched Aladdin (2019) in IMAX 3D, so I am not sure how much credit for the 3D experience I had goes to the movie itself versus to the theater I saw it in. IMAX is decidedly a different viewing experience than other theaters, so your millage may vary. That being said I thought the 3D in this movie was great. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for flying sequences. I don’t know if the “Whole New World” flight quite topped How To Train Your Dragon’s flying sequences, but it’s definitely up there. That of course doesn’t mean the 3D was perfect. I think the film majorly underutilized atmospherics. Regarding pop-outs there are some puffs of clouds or smoke occasionally throughout the film, but I would have loved to see more dust and sand in the air. It is the desert, after all! Still, I loved the all colors throughout the film and the costume design – especially jasmines iconic blue ensemble. It’s clear that a lot of effort went into the visuals in this film, and that effort definitely paid off. The 3D compliments the wonderful visuals and gives you a magical experience.

Final Verdict: Great 3D

Art by Ppeppermind
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Movie

As a movie lover, there’s nothing better than going into a theater and being transported into a whole new world. (Or a rebooted world that you already know the entire plot to, as the case may be.) Regardless, I quite loved the 2019 live action remake of Aladdin.

In terms of the plot itself, not much has changed from the original animated version. Aladdin finds a magic lamp that grants him three wishes from a magical genie. There are some minor changes here and there, but they are mostly changes in dialogue or additions of extra characters. And many of the changes I think are for the better. Jasmine for instance, is a much more proactive character, and even gets an extra song. We also get some backstory on her mother, even if only through dialogue. Disney did the same thing with the Beauty and the Beastremake, and I think it’s a nice little trend. It doesn’t impact the plot that much, but it does nicely flesh out characterizations and motivations. Some of the changes on the other hand, are less necessary. They’re not exactly bad just…odd. They’re all small moments, but if you know the plot well enough (and let’s face it, if you’re going out of your way to see the remake, you probably do) they just stick out like a blue Will Smith, and for seemingly no emotional or comedic payoff, so I’m not quite sure why they were included. There is also one reprise from the original that is missing in the new version, though I think the extra songs and reprises make up for it a little. I do wish Disney would stop using so much auto tuning though. Your main actors are already decent enough singers, I feel like all Disney achieves through doing it this way is making otherwise good singers sound fake. I understand wanting to reference hip hop when you have a rapper like Will Smith at your disposal, but I’m just not sure that Disney really achieved that successfully.

It’s a delicate balance with reboots like these, because nostalgia is simultaneously both your ally and your enemy. There will be people that complain it’s too similar to the original, and others that complain it’s too different. It’s never going to be perfect, and you’re never going to please everyone. But despite it’s flaws, I can’t help but love this movie. Sure, I knew most of what was going to happen, but that only led to a sense of anticipation and excitement, wondering how they were going to pull off the next thing. And there is a bit of a beauty in the fact that we tell ourselves the same stories over and over, even if we know the ending. That’s what good stories do; they evolve and change to fit the times. The story of Aladdin has already been doing this since the 18thcentury (or earlier?) , and will undoubtedly continue to do so for many years to come.

Final Verdict: 8/10

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Detective Pikachu 3D Movie Review

Written By: Adolph Vega

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3D

Where are the 3D visuals ? Detective Pikachu sadly doesn’t crack this case of the missing 3D. All kidding aside the 3D is barely present in this movie. Most of this movie looks totally flat in 3D. We have some interesting looking establishing shots and long streets that make good use of 3D depth, but most of the movie barley has any 3D visuals. One Pokémon battle scene looks very good in 3D. In this thrilling scene, you have some fun pop out and interesting depth-based elements. Parts of the Pokémon pop out of the screen. The 3D depth helps this scene give you a sense of claustrophobia . The 3D makes a fun scene better, but this scene lasts only a few minutes. Another scene nearby a river has many floating Pokémon and they really pop out of screen. This river scene lasts only a few seconds. The fun 3D scenes are too few and far between to be worthwhile. The 3D scenes don’t last very long. Good looking 3D scenes are rare in this movie. The vast majority of this the movie looks very flat. The start of the credits actually looks nice in 3D but again that sequence only lasts a few minutes. The Detective Pikachu 3DS video game is only playable in 2D and that is how I recommend watching this movie. Simply put the Detective Pikachu movie is not worth watching in 3D.

Final Verdict: Weak 3D 2D Recommended

Movie

Before I begin this review I must confess that I am not a super Pokémon fanatic, but I am very familiar with the core concepts of Pokémon franchise. I have never played the Nintendo 3DS game that this movie is based on. I only played three Pokémon video games: Yellow, Snap, and Go. I lost interest in Pokémon Yellow after a dozen or so hours into the game. I actually really enjoyed Pokémon Snap because I love photography. I got bored of Pokémon Go maybe a month after it released. I watched maybe two or three seasons of the anime TV show, but I have not seen any of the animated films. I hold no negativity toward this long standing franchise or its fans. I state this only to be transparent.

Detective Pikachu is a strange movie. The Nintendo 3DS game that this movie is based on is neither a huge hit or a beloved video game. The Pokémon franchise has released several animated movies but this is the first live action film with computer generated Pokémon characters. Sadly I predict that most Pokémon fans will be lukewarm to this movie.

The story behind Detective Pikachu revolves around a young man named Tim Goodman. Tim’s father has gone missing and Tim goes searching for him when Detective Pikachu arrives. Detective Pikachu has amnesia and knows that Tim’s father is the key to recovering his memories. Detective Pikachu joins Tim‘s search for the truth. The movie has many twists and turns and is a decent family friendly adventure. Sadly, many of the key plot points are spoon feed to the viewer. The story is conveniently put together in exposition dumps. The movie has several plot holes and a terrible villain. The motivations for this villain are poorly explained and his plan doesn’t make much sense. The writing is very simplistic and generic. The movie feels a little too long. Humor is the main positive aspect of this movie. For the most part the comedy does work, but at times it can be cringe worthy. The various action scenes are compelling, and the story has some heart. The plot wraps up in a tight little package. This movie is an okay way to kill some time.

Justice Smith portrays Tim Goodman and Ryan Reynolds portrays the voice of Detective Pikachu. Justice Smith is totally mediocre in this role. Tim is not a very likeable main character. Tim is bland and is always whining about something in this movie. The only scene that I liked him in was the integration scene with the Mr Mime Pokémon. That scene was hilarious and very clever. Ryan Reynolds is his typical hilarious self in this movie. Ryan Reynolds does not change his voice in this movie and still sounds very much like Deadpool. The comedic timing of Ryan Reynolds and the good writing for his character work well for this story. In many ways it feels like a PG Deadpool movie without the forth wall breaking and set in the Pokémon universe. Another main character in this movie is that of Lucy Stevens. Lucy is portrayed by Kathryn Newton. Sadly, this character only exists to help move the story forward. I liked her performance in this movie, but it’s a very limited role. I actually liked her character more than the main character of Tim. Ryan Reynolds basically carries this entire movie on his shoulders, much like how Ash Ketchum carries Pikachu on his shoulders in the Pokémon TV show.

I need to talk about the computer graphics within this movie. The visual character design varies dramatically from scene to scene. Pikachu for example looks fantastic in this movie. Pikachu looks like a adorable cat like creature. I know Pikachu is a rat based Pokémon but in the movie his fur looks very cat like . Overall the first-generation Pokémon look great (Pikachu, Charizard, Bulbasaur , etc) but some of the newer generation creatures don’t look so good. Is this because the newer creature designs are not as inspired as the older generation? Or is it because they didn’t budget enough money to make these characters look believable? I don’t know. The various animal designs (Pokémon) just look strange and the proportions just don’t look realistic. It can be very jarring when one creature looks fantastic and another looks awful and is totally out of place. These creature character models work in a video game, but many simply don’t work in real life. The movie is filled with a diverse selection of Pokémon and not all of them look good on screen. Some Pokémon look amazing, some look totally fake, some look oddly shaped or too big, and some Pokémon don’t look like they could even exist in our world. The worst aspect of the visuals is the inconsistency of it all. The strange visuals hurt my enjoyment of the movie.

In closing Detective Pikachu is a mess of a movie. The visuals are all over the place. Despite the many flaws I still liked this movie and I had fun. Sadly, this movie is not the very best, but it’s not a total disaster either.