- This episode of Nerdist News
is sponsored by Captive State.
Does the new Aladdin trailer have fans back onboard?
Early 2019, who can forget that live action Aladdin teaser
which gave us our first look
at Will Smith as the blue Genie.
Fans were in an uproar over the strangely CGI'd sight
of the famous wish granter,
taking to Twitter to share their hilarious
and horrifying takes on the character.
Hot on the heels of that teaser,
a new trailer dropped on Tuesday,
with street market parkour, more characters,
actual songs, and of course, more Genie.
So, does this fresh new trailer
do the trick of getting Aladdin fans back onboard?
Well, if you're a 90s kid,
then it looks like the answer is an optimistic yes!
But everyone else, let's break down the trailer
and the accompanying fan reactions.
- Genie of the Lamp!
- First up, this new spot gives us a lot more to digest
than the previous teaser,
with better looks at Princess Jasmine and Jafar,
more singing and an even closer look
at the city of Agrabah.
While that's all good,
let's just jump straight to the topic on everyone's minds:
the Genie.
Instead of seeing a muscly, blue Will Smith
awkwardly float at Aladdin,
now we're seeing him move around more naturally.
We see him come out of the lamp and meet Aladdin,
then he busts out some dance moves
from the classic song and dance number, Friend Like Me,
and we even get a few shots of the genie in his human form,
dancing and riding ostriches.
But, were the fans onboard for this new look
at Will Smith's Genie?
Well, it appears most folks seem to have had
a change of opinion.
@SteveKornfield issues a mea culpa via Twitter.
Okay, I think we were all wrong about Aladdin.
I, for one, will give it a chance now.
@Edwardistheman showed how fully onboard he is tweeting,
me, after watching the trailer or Aladdin,
along with this gif from the OG animated film.
We even got some real time reactions
of people watching the new trailer,
like @BLACKWIDCWS who tweeted
live footage of me jamming to the new version
of Friend like Me,
and @digoh3 even picked up on the fact that
Will Smith is channeling the same energy
from his days as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
But that wasn't the only Will Smith character
fans picked up on this new Aladdin trailer,
with many referring to it as Hitch 2.0,
Reddit user DoctorPepper417 even thought up
the full title of this Hitch sequel,
Hitch 2: Aladdin Boogaloo.
Of course now that we're seeing,
sorry. (laughs)
- [Man] You laugh at that one?
- Yeah, okay.
Of course now, (laughs)
boogaloo is just a funny word.
(beep)
Of course now that we're seeing
more of the film in this trailer,
fans are also starting to get really into
the nostalgic vibes of the shot-for-shot remake.
YouTube user, N BT,
was taken to a whole new world of nostalgia.
A Whole New World is a time machine
back into early 90s childhood.
@Awkman on Twitter pointed out they did that,
referring to the iconic shot
of Aladdin inviting Princess Jasmine on a magic carpet ride,
which is surely seared into every 90s kid's memory.
Another Twitter user bit by the nostalgia bug
was @itsjustanx, thanks to that magic carpet.
A Whole New World changes everything.
I'm 100% in!
And Eddie Boulton on YouTube said
didn't expect goosebumps,
but when I heard A Whole New World,
I was like damn!
That's a two syllable damn, folks,
so you know it's serious.
Finally, @N0ChoiceToMake let it all out.
A Whole New World started playing
and the water ducts opened.
Alrighty Disney, take my money.
Of course, not all of the fan's reactions
were nostalgia trips and forgiveness of the previous teaser.
Quite a few folks felt that Jafar, in this trailer,
doesn't come off as menacing.
He comes off as hot.
YouTube user scabab wrote in the trailer's comments,
much, much better trailer,
but I'm not feeling Jafar at all.
@MaineFinFan felt the problem was the casting, tweeting,
I just still can't get over the casting of Jafar.
It's just ridiculous.
They made him younger and not ugly.
And @MovieManiac89 got to the heart of the matter
with their tweet, Young Jafar is giving me
Jesse Eisenberg, Lex Luthor vibes.
Let's change what everyone likes
about an iconic character
to a fresh, new take that no one asked for.
Different is not always better.
This could have been a great chance
to showcase an older actor, but alas.
Despite the light Jafar backlash,
it appears that this new trailer
seems to have redeemed to the previous teaser,
and fans are back onboard
for the live action Aladdin movie.
It's worth nothing that with Disney
overloading the next six months or so
with live action remakes for Dumbo,
Aladdin and The Lion King,
we'll just have to see where Aladdin falls
amidst it's unanimated peers,
which also includes The Jungle Book,
Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast.
You may remember that the Beauty and the Beast remake
made over a billion dollars at the box office,
and considering the similarities
to it's animated version,
it looks like Disney is trying to
hit that treasure trove again with Aladdin.
But, what do you folks think?
Are you looking forward to the Aladdin remake?
Are you onboard with Will Smith as the Genie?
And is it crazy that we have three
live action remakes coming from Disney
in the next five to six months?
Let's discuss!
Thanks again to Captive State
for sponsoring today's episode.
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Captive State explores the lives
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