Le Retour de Jafar

Whenever disney makes a sequel that went straight to dvd, I always ask one question when watching one, DISNEY, WHY DO YOU MAKE THESE? This movie in ten words is, what if we made the same movie again, but worse. The runtime is only 69 minutes, the genie is not voiced by Robin Williams anymore, etc, while this isn't quite as terrible as some of the others in this heap of Disney sequels, it's still bad.

I think if you enjoy hearing Gilbert Gottfried's incessant screeching as a performer, as I genuinely do (no, really, for a character like Iago it woks!) then Return to Jafar will be a good effort. Very good, great? Maybe not. I don't even know how necessary it might have been, but as a little kid coming off of Aladdin, which was a triumph for Disney at the time, this was a good way to bridge between the first movie and the animated series that was to come for many years on the Disney channel. It picks up right where the first one left off and follows Iago on his journey from being an awful "I'm looking out for me" kind of stooge and into being, well, semi-heroic.

Of course not having Robin Williams as the Genie, and as a kid as soon as I heard it, it was something of a shock (only once though, during the Genie's first song, does he sound a lot like Homer Simpson). But he does a good enough job and makes it entertaining. I don't know what could have been improved on aside from, you know, the animation (it's not the Hollywood group, it was done overseas), or Williams but... for what it is, I like it. It may not be a strong recommendation, but it's more-so compared to the dirge of ridiculous direct-to-video garbage that Disney pumped out over the next two decades (including things like Bambi 2 and Beauty and the Beast Christmas specials). At least Aladdin, through this sequel and one more and the series, got to be its own thing in continuity and follow arcs and characters in decent timing for children of the period.

Aladdin: The Return of Jafar Iago the bird wants to befriend our heroes from the first film, distrust makes it hard for them to forgive him. When the powerful genie Jafar returns to seek revenge they must band together to stop him.

Return of Jafar is a fun short movie that will definitely keep youngsters entertained for a while. There some good entertaining action scenes, and a couple of funny moments.

The bad parts are largely due to weaker animation, there are a couple very noticeable goofs that should have been caught and fixed before release. Also Robin Williams does not return to voice Genie, Dan Castlanetta (most known for voicing Homer Simpson) takes his place. Castlanetta's voice work isn't too bad, but the material lacks the great laughs we were hoping for.

You may remember there was also a Toon Disney Channel show called Aladdin which featured Castlanetta as Genie. I feel this movie was made to be a part of that series.

The plot is simple and the film as a whole just doesn't feel like it strives for much. Still, the young'uns will probably like it.

As rare as it is, Disney will have good sequels that will come out and one of those is Return of Jafar, even though this one you can tell the animation isn't as great as the original and Robin Williams skipped out on this one, I still really enjoyed this Disney sequel. I thought it was pretty cool to see how Jafar would get his revenge as a genie, you thought he was a scary villain just as a sorcerer? Imagine him as a genie with all the powers in the world! It's pretty crazy, but I like how they are continuing the story between Aladdin and Jasmine and how Aladdin's life has been since the Sultan has invited him to stay within the castle and to love his daughter. Plus we have the genie, Abu, and the carpet back, how could you not just fall in love with them again? Return of Jafar is a great sequel and has a very good story.

The story opens with a band of robbers arriving in their hideout with their latest spoils. Just as their incompetent leader, Abis Mal, rouses the ire of his men, Aladdin and Abu steal the treasures back and distribute most of it among the poor of Agrabah, with the exception of a jewel flower, which Aladdin intends to give to Jasmine. Upon their arrival, Jasmine announces to Aladdin a surprise which the Sultan intends to reveal at this evening's dinner. Meanwhile, in the desert, Iago manages to dig himself and Jafar's genie lamp out of the sand, into which the Genie had fired them. Jafar orders Iago to release him at once, but Iago, tired of being treated badly by Jafar, throws the lamp into a nearby well. He returns to Agrabah, hoping to convince Aladdin that he had served Jafar only because he had hypnotized him just like the Sultan. He meets Aladdin and insists that he is innocent, but Aladdin is not fooled and tries to capture him. While chasing Iago, Aladdin has a run-in with Abis Mal and some of his men, but is saved by Iago. Now willing to give Iago a fair chance, Aladdin returns with him to the palace, where they are greeted by Genie, who has returned from seeing the world and is glad to be home in Agrabah. That night, the Sultan announces that he wants to make Aladdin his new grand vizier. Trying to draw on the good mood, Aladdin attempts to persuade the Sultan to forgive Iago, but Iago inadvertently ruins the dinner and the Sultan and Jasmine are furious. With Iago's help, though, Jasmine eventually reconciles with Aladdin. Meanwhile, Jafar, by luck, is found by Abis Mal. As Jafar is a genie, he is handicapped by the incompetence of his new "master". Jafar desires to be free so that he can get revenge on Aladdin and rule Agrabah, but needs Mal's co-operation to do this. Once in the palace, Jafar reveals himself to Iago and forces him to play along with his plans. The next day, Aladdin and the Sultan depart to have a discussion at a place suggested by Iago. After they leave, Jafar confronts the Genie and Abu in the Palace gardens and shows his power, imprisoning the pair. When Aladdin thanks Iago, he is ambushed by Abis Mal, and the sulton is captured.

Even though Iago was a great little villain sidekick, I think I liked him better turning on Aladdin's side and seeing him rescue the gang from Jafar was just awesome. Even though the soundtrack isn't as memorable as the first Aladdin, I still loved Iago's song "I'm looking out for me". I'm a little sad that the same cast didn't return, but these voices did just as well and the story still worked. I really did like this sequel, even if others didn't, I think it was just a great way to continue Aladdin's journey with the genie, Jasmine, Abu and the others. Plus it was cool to see Jafar come back and just defend his title against Aladdin and the genie was awesome, you really don't wanna mess with Jafar. Well even if Aladdin did end up winning the day, I think Jafar is still a pretty cool bad dude. I do recommend that if you get the chance to see this movie, take it, it's a fun sequel and I personally enjoyed it.

7/10

Disney has a reputation of doing bad sequels. And for the most part they are but this movie is an exception. It's actually pretty entertaining but the flaw of the movie is the absence of Robin Williams. "Homer Simpson" does a good job providing the voice but he isn't Robin Williams.

2(**)out of 4(****)stars