Today the newest movie in Disney’s impressive 2019 lineup is released — Aladdin, the live action remake.  Read on for my Aladdin Review (Pros and Cons)

On a spur-of-the-moment afternoon decision I grabbed tickets for an opening night performance and convinced a friend to join me. To my surprise — the theater was practically empty. I thought this was going to be a sold-out show! But I think the lack-luster reviews so far stunted the flocks to the box office.

The remaking of Aladdin was unnecessary, as the original is a Disney Classic and considered one of Disney’s best. But since Disney is on an unoriginality kick, it was bound to happen some day I guess.

Overall — I liked the movie and am excited to see it again when it becomes available on video. That being said, I think it had some serious flaws and missteps.

Here are my pros and cons:

Pro → this version of the movie was much more culturally accurate to the setting of the film; an imaginary kingdom (“Agraba”) which pulls from many different inspirational regions, such as the Middle East and India. The representation was fabulous.

Pro → Naomi Scott. The actress who plays Jasmine holds this movie on her shoulders! She did a phenomenal job, both in acting and singing. Loved all her scenes.

Pro → Great CGI. I don’t like an overuse of CGI, but they didn’t go cheap here. All the visuals are stunning and convincing.

Pro → Bollywood dance scenes. There are two. Enough said.

 

Pro → Empowerment of women. As is popular (and the right thing to do), this remake paints Princess Jasmine in a new light, of not being a pawn in the men of her life’s scemes. Her original song “Speechless” is beautiful and will resonate with women.

Half-Pro → Will Smith did a great job as the Genie in all of his non-singing scenes. He is funny, witty, and brings a special flare to the role.

Now time for the Cons:

Con → While I loved Naomi Scott as Jasmine, almost everyone else was a miscast for me. I think the film creators were aiming more for a LOOK rather than a SOUND. I think they should have cast Broadway actors for the roles (I mean, Aladdin has literally been playing on Broadway for years — they had their pick…) to have a more stunning soundtrack. Each song felt lackluster. Disappointing when Aladdin is primarily a musical.

Con → I did not like the first 30 or so minutes of the film. It follows the original almost scene for scene, line for line. But, the timing didn’t hit the way it is supposed to, and each time they delivered a line from the original, it felt like plagiarism. In my opinion, a remake should have the same basic storyline as the original, but take on a new life. Remakes should be allowed a FEW exact lines from the original as nods to the film and as service to the fans. When whole scenes are done the same…it feels lazy. Luckily, the rest of the film does start to diverge somewhat and isn’t as clunky as the beginning.

Con → Iago. Iago! He was one of the best elements of the original. Why did you do this to him Disney?? They obviously made him to be a lifelike parrot, but they also limited his speech to mostly phrases a real parrot would say. I miss his humor!

Con → Most of the music. They had two options for music: make it the same as the original, or take it in a totally different direction. I would have been fine with both options. HOWEVER, they chose to do neither. The songs were very similar to the originals, but not as well done. The timing always seems off. If you’ve ever heard a song by Will Smith, you’ll hear that he mostly “talks” the words instead of singing them. I think he should have straight up rapped the words, or they should have chosen someone who could sing them. Also, what the autotune?? You can hear the correction happening in the music…..should have hired Broadway singers….

ANYWAYS

Sorry that my Cons seem so long. I just have a lot to say about it. Like I said, it was an enjoyable night out at the movies and I am excited to see it again. Maybe it was just the anticipation that I got let down (but Disney needs to know that everyone has high expectations for something like this…).

Have you seen it yet? Are you planning to see it?

I remade the photos for my most popular recipe, Gaston’s Tavern Cinnamon Rolls — go check it out!