When last we saw the young street rat Aladdin, he had just won the heart and hand of the fair Princess Jasmine, bid adieu (rather sadly) to his good friend the Genie, and entered a whole new world. The wicked Jafar and his feathery sidekick Iago had been confined in a lamp of their own, tossed into the Cave of Wonders, and everyone thought their problems were over. Ah, they were so naïve.
With “The Return of Jafar,” the straight-to-video release of 1994, Disney hoped to recapture some of the magic contained in the original “Aladdin.” It was not to be. What gave “Aladdin” its magic? The comic genius of Robin Williams, and Robin Williams was not to be found in “Return of Jafar.” Instead we got a Robin Williams sound-alike with none of the perks. The new guy wasn’t funny, wasn’t convincing, and the animators did triple overtime trying to come up with enough sight gags to keep us entertained, but you can’t disguise the fact that your star is missing.
The basic plot is pretty simple: Jafar and Iago manage to dig their way out of the Cave of Wonders. Actually, Iago does the digging; Jafar is still in the lamp. After emerging from the depths of the sand, dragging his metal-encased master behind him, Iago hopes for some kind of recognition or at least a “thank you,” but none is forthcoming. He decides to make a split from Jafar and cozies up to Aladdin with the goal of ingratiating himself to the court once again. But Jafar has another plan, to destroy Aladdin and take over the throne. And all this with a hyper blue genie bouncing all over the place, trying to make us laugh.
No, this one wasn’t my favorite. But if your kids are die-hard Aladdin fans, they’ll probably enjoy it – I must say, however, I’m so glad Williams came back for the third installment in the Aladdin series. Keep your eye on Movie Reviews for “Aladdin and the Prince of Thieves,” coming soon to a computer near you.
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