Movie Review: A Kid in Aladdin's Palace

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Fun take on the classic story

Cons: Too similar to the original

The Bottom Line:

Familiar story

Fun but we've seen it before

Less than it could be

I'm Wishing This Sequel Were Better

Getting videos from the library is wonderful. It allows you to cheaply catch up on a film you may have missed but never felt like spending money to rent. Such is the case with A Kid in Aladdin's Palace. I found the first movie fun, but never got around to seeing this one. By borrowing it from the library, I was able to finally do that for free. And, while I wasn't missing much, it had its enjoyable moments.

The only character returning from the first film is Calvin Fuller (once again played by Thomas Ian Nicholas). In the first film, we was magically transported back to Camelot to help an aging King Arthur fight off a threat to his throne. Now he's doing it again, this time for Aladdin (Aharon Ipale).

The threat is coming from Aladdin's brother, Luxor (James Faulkner), who has placed Aladdin in the sleep of a thousand deaths. His only hope is that the Genie (Taylor Negron) finds "The Deliverer).

Calvin just happens to have gotten a job at a pizzeria as a, you guessed it, delivery boy. He's trying to ask the girl of his dreams out to the dance that night when the Genie arrives and whisks him back to ancient Arabia. There, he must team up with Ali Baba (Nicholas Irons) and the three thieves as well as Aladdin's beautiful daughter Sheherazad (Rhona Mitra) to retrieve the Genie from the cave of wonders without letting Luxor get his hands on the lamp. Can they do it?

This is one of those movies that is just okay. There's nothing spectacular about it, but it isn't horrible either.

Take the story, for example. The first part of the film is rather slow. While the entire thing is predictable, it is especially bad here. Once Calvin and the crew leave on the quest, things definitely pick up and I was able to get into the story. And the story is certainly a clever twist on the Aladdin tale that has become familiar over the years. I enjoyed catching references to things I knew, even if they were used slightly differently here.

The acting isn't going to win any awards, but it works. Again, once the movie progresses, things begin to fall into place. Either I was more forgiving by that point or the actors got more comfortable in their parts as the film progressed. I'm guessing it's the former since films are rarely shot in chronological order.

Then there are the special effects. While the movie isn't filled with them, the Genie and a flying carpet scene near the end do require them. I'm guessing they were low budget computer effects because they look obviously fake. This isn't going to wow anyone, even the kids.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it is a sequel and it knows it is a sequel. What do I mean by that? It tries too hard not to break any new ground. In the first movie, Calvin was afraid of striking out at baseball and didn't think he was up to the quest he has been given. In this movie, he is afraid of asking a girl out and doesn't think he is up to his quest. Couldn't the writers have come up with something new?

On the other hand, Calvin's use of modern gadgets to get him out of tight spots is fun. This is something brought over from the first movie. Calvin has new gadgets, of course, but theses scenes are just as much fun.

I realize I haven't made this movie sound super appealing. But it really isn't a bad movie. It's just not especially good, either. The kids will probably enjoy it, and you'll be able to tolerate it if you watch it with them. But there's really little need to rush out to see A Kid in Aladdin's Palace.