Kazaam

PG

Released Jul 17, 1996

1h 33m

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Comedy

List

5%

37 Reviews

Tomatometer

20%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A genie named Kazaam (Shaquille O'Neal) has been sealed up for thousands of years, until one day he is accidentally freed by Max (Francis Capra), who is on the run from a local gang. Kazaam explains to the youth that he belongs to Max until he grants three wishes, but what Max really wants is to get to know his estranged father. When the genie, who considers trying his hand at a music career, forgets about his young master, Max is attacked by villainous club owner Malik (Marshall Manesh).

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Critics Consensus

Crafted from a mix of genre clichés, Kazaam doesn't know what kind of film it wants to be, and Shaq's larger-than-life charisma is stifled by rote filmmaking and an unimaginative story.

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

It's marketing, not moviemaking.

Rated: 1/4

Aug 23, 2017

Full Review

Barry McIlheney

Empire Magazine

Dismal.

Rated: 1/5

May 29, 2013

Full Review

Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

In his Hollywood debut, Shaq more or less played himself as a coveted college center in William Friedkin's excellent Blue Chips. Kazaam is a compelling argument for keeping him on the court and as far away from a movie set as possible.

Rated: 1.5/4

May 29, 2013

Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

Bad fantasy comedy is dated and materialistic; bullying.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 7, 2020

Full Review

Mal Vincent

The Virginian-Pilot

The movie looked lively and imaginative in the trailer that has been showing for months. Stretch it out to 92 minutes, though, and you realize that the entire thing was effectively and attractively squeezed into the preview.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 8, 2019

Full Review

John Ferguson

Radio Times

Ultimately this is a kids-only affair.

Rated: 2/5

Jul 22, 2014

Full Review

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Alanya H

I'm glad Shaq got his money ,what they tried to make a joke out of Sinbad. Trying to keep down the black people by controlling Sinbad instead of controlling their self. Money didn't buy Sinbad

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

Full Review

StephenPaul C

The greatest 01 hour: and 33 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/17/23

Full Review

Rachel K

No one has ever heard of a genie in the boombox.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

06/10/23

Full Review

Kyle E

Well, adolescent really(19). Like Howard the Duck, Kazaam was a movie I loved as a child but looking back on it I was shocked at how low my taste buds were as a kid. Granted, there are some funny moments specifically the ones with the flying toasts and the bicycle race. And it is not the worst movie of 1996, Ed and especially Bio Dome are worse. However, the special effects are really quite substandard, and the rest of the production values are of direct to video quality and shoddy ones at that. The story is predictable with only a few worthwhile scenes to favour, the sight gags suffer from poor comic timing and the script is childish and simplistic. The characters I really dislike here, the kid is annoying, the villain is one of the lamest I have seen in a long time while Shaquille O'Neal's Genie with his awful rapping(then again I dislike rap intensely, and that is the least problematic of his performance) grated on me fast. The acting doesn't fare much better either, while the direction is literally non-existent and the soundtrack is only tolerable if on mute. This is of course my opinion, disagree all you want, I guess I just didn't like it. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Cyrus K

Filled with terrible acting, unlikable characters, creepy undertones, outdated effects, a terrible need to be rad, filled with cliches, two plots going on at once, abysmal rapping and overall just a very boring movie. I walked in expecting a movie that is so bad it's good or at least just an entertaining kinda bad, but nope it is incredibly boring and extremely bad!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/21/22

Full Review

Rodrigo R

Filme da época divertido, início do jogador como ator. Gostava do filme quando era criança.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/18/22

Full Review

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Paul Michael Glaser

Director

Shaquille O'Neal

Kazaam

Francis Capra

Maxwell "Max" Connor

Ally Walker

Alice Connor

Marshall Manesh

Malik

James Acheson

Nick

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Synopsis

A genie named Kazaam (Shaquille O'Neal) has been sealed up for thousands of years, until one day he is accidentally freed by Max (Francis Capra), who is on the run from a local gang. Kazaam explains to the youth that he belongs to Max until he grants three wishes, but what Max really wants is to get to know his estranged father. When the genie, who considers trying his hand at a music career, forgets about his young master, Max is attacked by villainous club owner Malik (Marshall Manesh).

Director: Paul Michael Glaser
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 1996, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 12, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $18.9M
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

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