Aladdin Review: Will Smith Shines As The Genie In Disney's Latest Live-Action Redo
- naterichard98
- Jul 23, 2019
- 2 min read
DIRECTED BY: GUY RITICHIE STARRING: WILL SMITH, MENA MASSOUD & NAOMI SCOTT
RATED PG FOR SOME ACTION/PERIL
LENGTH: 128 MINUTES
From the moment it was announced, Disney's live-action rendition of Aladdin has been met with skepticism. Whether it be the casting of Will Smith as the Genie, the hiring of director Guy Ritchie, the controversy surrounding the darkening of some of the white extra's faces, or the more than questionable CGI displayed in the trailers. The project seemed doomed, would this be another flop for Disney on the level of Tomorrowland, John Carter, and The Lone Ranger?
Thankfully in the case of the 2019 adaptation of Aladdin, it was just a case of poor marketing. The film not only stays true to the whimsical tone that made the original so special but it also changes a few things up and becomes its own thing. While it doesn't hold a candle to the 1992 animated classic, this version of Aladdin still is better than what everyone expected.
The biggest surprise of Aladdin is just how good Will Smith is as the Genie. It never feels as if Smith is trying to imitate what the late great Robin Williams did in the role almost 30 years ago. Instead he channels his Hitch performance as well as brings his classic Fresh Prince personality. Newcomer Mena Massoud shows a lot of promise in his role as Aladdin and proves that he's perfectly capable of carrying a film alongside a titan in the industry like Smith. Naomi Scott is also very strong as Jasmine and continues to show that she's one of the most talented rising stars in the business right now. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Marwan Kenzari's portrayal of Jafar. Instead of being the menacing and sinister villain that we feared in the original film, this Jafar feels more like a weasel and less intimidating, though this could just be a problem with the script.
Some of the musical numbers are strong here, particularly Prince Ali and Never Had A Friend Like Me which both have the big boisterous feel that they were meant to have. Songs like A Whole New World on the other hand, ultimately feel like side note. The film also starts out extremely rough, it almost feels like the filmmakers wanted to rush the story simply to get to the Genie, forgetting that first and foremost this is the story of Aladdin and Jasmine.
Aladdin is not a perfect film by any means nor is it as memorable of a movie as the film that came before it, but as far as the Disney live-action remakes go, this is certainly one of the better ones.
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