Movie Review: Aladdin - The Return of Jafar

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Decent story brings all the characters back

Cons: Obviously inferior to the original.

The Bottom Line:

It's what you'd expect

Fun but not original

Die hard fans only

10,000 Years Isn't What It Used to be

Once upon a time, Disney didn't release sequels to their big screen movies. All that changed with The Return of Jafar, the first sequel to 1992's big hit Aladdin. While it is entertaining, it pales in comparison to the original.

Aladdin's (Scott Weinger) life is going well. Living in the palace suits him, he is engaged to Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), and he has turned his skills as a thief into a Robin Hood act, robbing from thieves like Abis Mal (Jason Alexander) and giving it to the poor.

Unfortunately, things are about to get messy. Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) and Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) have managed to get out of the Cave of Wonders where they were imprisoned at the end of the first movie. Jafar, now an all powerful genie, has one thing on his mind, revenge, and he wants to get back to Agrabah as quickly as possible. His luck improves when his lamp falls into the hands of Abis Mal who also wants revenge on Aladdin.

Iago wants to get back into the palace himself. When he accidentally gets on Aladdin's good side, things seem to be going well. But then Jafar shows up. Whose side is Iago really on? And is there a way to fight an all powerful genie?

If you watch this movie by itself, you will enjoy it. But as soon as you start comparing it to the original, you'll see its flaws. For starters, the animation isn't as good. It was made by the TV animation department (and served as a pilot for the TV series that aired in the 90's). It doesn't have the rich colors or detail the original had. It gets the job done, and that's all.

Second are the songs. There are four new songs here. Two are immediately forgettable. "Forget about Love" and "You're Only Second Rate" are fun but aren't nearly as inspired as the songs in the original. The movie does start with some new lyrics to "Arabian Nights," which opens the first movie, and several of the original's songs make appearances in the background music. That only reminds you how poor the imitates are here.

I loved the ending of the original film. I thought it was clever. So I do have a bit of a problem with Jafar coming back so easily. Having said that, the story works well. It moves quickly (the film is only 69 minutes) and follows logically. It is darker then the original, however, and could easily scare kids.

Having said that, they once again have Aladdin trying to hide something from Jasmine. He's found out pretty quickly. Still, couldn't they come up with some other plot devise for this movie?

With two exceptions, the voice talent from the original is back, and they do a great job again. Val Bettin takes over the role of the Sultan, and I never noticed the difference. The bigger change is Dan Castellaneta taking over as Genie. He does a decent job of filling Robin Williams' shoes, although the change is rather obvious.

Normally, I don't judge sequels too harshly because I love spending time with old favorites again. This isn't one of those cases. While it isn't a bad movie, only die hard fans of the original will enjoy watching The Return of Jafar.