The Future of Aladdin

The Future of Aladdin

Bruce Von Stiers

How much fun can you have watching a fantasy adventure film? If you have Aladdin as your main character, set the timeline in the distant future and add in some comedic elements, you just might have the right combination for a fun and entertaining film.

Such a fun and entertaining film is Aladdin 3477-1: The Jinn of Wisdom . The film is very loosely based on Aladdin and his magical lamp from the classic Middle Eastern folktale collection, One Thousand And One Nights.

In this film, as in the folklore, Aladdin is a thief. When we first meet him, he is in a market and encounters a woman he knows, Jahli. Apparently, he's stolen something from her. And maybe broke her heart too. She yells for a cop and then Aladdin has a madcap run through the market trying to escape. He's shot at, beat upon, had nasty stuff dumped on him, beat again, shot at again and finally was able to elude the cops, mob and bounty hunters who were after him. This all takes place in Hong Kong.

Now there is a sultan whose daughter is apparently missing. She took off in the head of security's ship. That doesn't bode well for the security chief. The sultan has a floating palace that moves from location to location.

As this film takes place in the distant future, there are all kinds of holograms and see-through digital and visual displays. There are fun robots and robot guards, cops and bounty hunters. The weapons look futuristic, but most seem to fire regular ammo.

There are two parallel story lines in the film. One is that the sultan's daughter, Princess Kamala, is bored and wants to explore life. But her father won't let her. The second is that Aladdin aspires to become a prince or king or something. He just needs to find the right princess to be with.

A chance near encounter has Aladdin possibly setting his sights on Princess Kamala. But any interaction with the princess is spoiled by Oomi, a woman who keeps hanging around Aladdin, often getting in the way of things. Oomi ends up in a fight with the princess's guards. It is a fun scene, where Oomi uses the guards' lances as bo staffs, along with other martial arts techniques to disable the guards. The actor playing Oomi is a martial artist in real life, so the fight was decent in that respect.

Aladdin gets hired to recover a magic lamp from a cavern in Cambodia. But, unbeknownst to him, the true source behind the hiring is an evil being named Lochan Shyamal. He wants the magic lamp for nefarious purposes. Aladdin recovers the lamp and ends up bringing forth its Genie, the Jin of Wisdom.

The rest of the film has different plot elements that are separate but move the story along. The princess is trying to escape the palace but keeps getting thwarted. Lochan Shyamal is trying to find a way to get an edge on things. And Aladdin is searching for that one woman who will bring him riches and fame. But at the same time, he is trying to elude his past.

Something that stood out for me was Oomi always being around. She was always protecting Aladdin from danger. Or intercepting danger on his behalf. Throughout the film it appears that Oomi not only is Aladdin's protector, but also has unrequited love for him. And he is pretty much oblivious to it. There is one scene with an anguishing moment where you think he'll come around, but it doesn't happen.

There is a hilarious bit in the film that references the Star Wars franchise. And Aladdin's friend Brej is bizarrely funny.

Erik Steele played Aladdin. He was a data manager for Hardcore Pawn. He was also the cinematographer for the thriller short film Spider and the Fly. Lin Zy played Oomi. She was also one of the producers for the film. She is a professional graphic artist and wife of the director, Matt Busch. And, as I mentioned earlier, a noted martial artist.

Christi Dumar played Princess Kamala. She co-starred in Vampire Madness and Search For Love Lost. Jerry Hayes played Sultan Shivali. He's been in a bunch of film including three films I've reviewed, Betrayed, Beneath Us All and Ash and Bone.

Sareeya McNally was Lien Hua the spa owner. She appeared in Last Man Standing and Ides of March. Cassidy Fahling was Jhali. Jon Rick was Brej.

Jennifer Jelsema was a reporter in the film. She appeared in Good Guy With A Gun and The Devil's Left Hand. Calhoun Koenig was a robot vendor. She's appeared in two of the films I've reviewed, The Devil's Left Hand and Ash and Bone.

Brian Dalling was Lochan Shyamal. Aaron Golematis was the Jin of Wisdom.

Some of the locations in the film were decaying buildings. A bunch of those scenes were shot at the historic Packard plant in Detroit, which has been in the process of being demolished. And some of the actors appearing in the film are part of the Detroit area film community.

Principal photography for the film actually began in 2014. The filming took place over a five-year period. Then after a lengthy post-production period and a hunt for a distributor, the film was ready to be released to the public. The film is being distributed by Buffalo 8. Many of the locations in the film were in Asia; Hong Kong, New Kowloon, Cambodia and Thailand. There were also filming locations in Germany, India, Switzerland and several places in Michigan.

The film was directed by Matt Busch. This project has been his baby for many years. His background is of a graphic artist who's created comic books, provided artwork for film and television and worked on numerous Star Wars projects. I think that the bit with the Star Wars poster in the film was a nod to Busch's work.

The director of photography was Alexander Jacobson. He was the cinematographer for the short films Gratuity and The Lonely Monster.

The film was produced by Matt Busch, Ric Viers and Lin Zy for Busch's production company, Kaleidoscope Koi.

Executive Producers for the film were Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor, Nikki Stier Justice, Jessica Soo, Dave Todd and Peter Mayhew.

I really enjoyed the film. The story was fun, even if it was a bit campy. The acting was solid, and the fight sequences were decently choreographed. Oomi could really kick some ass in a fight. The filming was well done, especially the camera following Aladdin each time he tries to elude capture in a couple of marketplaces.

As you would expect from top tier talent such as Busch, the special effects were great. I was kind of expecting cheesy special effects for the futuristic locations and gadgetry, but they far surpassed my expectations. There was one little thing, though. Aladdin is on a speedster sail vehicle in a couple of quick scenes where it looks too much like a green screen effect.

Aladdin 3477-1: The Jinn of Wisdom is just the first film in a trilogy that Matt Busch has envisioned. I hope that the other two films are as fun as this one was.

Aladdin 3477-1: The Jinn of Wisdom is now available on VOD, Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango at Home.

Check out the film's official website to view the trailer and to learn more about it. That website is https://www.aladdin3477.com/

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