While Busch has an eye for speculative splendor in some shots, he is able to go full trash compactor for his future aesthetic. You can feel the tingle humming through the scratches on the metal. It makes me wonder if the sci-fi genre’s over-reliance on samurai flicks and Westerns was the wrong path, as fairy tales seem to work even better when suited up with helmets and laser guns. Seeing things like magic carpets get the sci-fi conversion into illegal glider crafts like in Slipstream, which is undeniably cool for all ages. Makes you wonder what Sinbad would look like with the wind-up key in the back treatment.
Yes, many of the effects used will come off as looking cheap. While this may distract some at the beginning, the penny FX soon develops its own unique appeal. The images of floating sky fortresses hanging over Buddhist temples are inherently awe-inspiring, even if it is being done with simple superimposition.
Also, I was perpetually amused that the head of the robot sidekick is a turn-of-the-century boom box. Also, the practical puppetry that seems to be used in the beginning with Darshana Shailaja is flat-out awesome, creating the perfect quirky visual hook to get the viewer’s attention and respect.
“Busch builds a shrine to these rogue elements with his rusted tomorrow filled with thieves and bounty hunters, all constantly stabbing each other in the back.”
And this is the indie paradox that keeps motivating great movies: you have no money yet you have to entertain twice as hard. It is unfair, but many have risen to the task. Busch just happens to succeed more than others have.
There is also a wrong foot gotten off on, as the goofy marketplace opening with the shambling extras establishes the tone of a live-action Saturday morning cartoon. This is a shame, because even though kids will love it, Busch has not crafted a childish movie.
Aladdin 3477 – I: The Jinn of Wisdom soon drops a pair of huge metallic nuts that swing to the serious side, especially as the stakes get higher. The further we get into the quest, the sharper the edges get around the film’s charm.
The whole picture trades in the type of exotica that is fundamentally linked with the Arabian Nights stories, which melds amazingly well with the sci-fi tropes employed. The strategic use of location shots abroad, perhaps on a vacation, hides the fact that most of this was shot in Michigan, which is truly impressive.
Best of all is that it is the first chapter of a franchise that I understand is already in the can. That makes me excited AF, as Aladdin 3477 – I: The Jinn of Wisdom is an indie epic trip beyond imagination on a five-and-dime store budget. Ready to rub this future lamp a lot more, please.
"…an indie epic trip beyond imagination on a five and dime store budget"
