Review of Aladdin (2019) by Theredsky — 17 Jun 2019

I tried to like this movie but I couldn't. Disney Live Action remakes just aren't good. All the Live Action remakes are only made for money. They bank too heavily on nostalgia which I don’t like. I feel that this movie should not have been made.

I feel the same way about any Live Action remake that has been released or is coming out. Here are some positives. Most of the cast does a good job. Will Smith isn’t trying to beat out Robin Williams as the Genie but still does a great job.

The soundtrack is decent. It’s still incredibly catchy but not as catchy as the original. The only song I feel that is better in this movie is Arabian Nights. All the other songs are good but not as outstanding as the original.

Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives. The pacing of this film is way off. It feels rushed at certain points and the end of the film starts to drag and it takes too long. It also doesn’t help that this film is 38 minutes longer than the original.

Marwan Kenzari is a decent actor but he didn’t do a good job in this film. In my opinion, he didn’t know what to do with the character. Jafar never felt like a major threat during the film which is a problem because he is the main villain.

There were some changes that were made to the story but I felt they really didn’t work for me. Jasmine’s added character arc was a big meh for me. It felt a little out of place within the narrative.

The new songs they added were meh for me. They aren’t as memorable as the other songs in the film. The effects on the Genie are still as bad as they were in the trailer which was very distracting. The film is very brightly lit which makes it feel like a Disney Channel Original Film.

There are also some slow motion scenes that come out of nowhere and make no sense at all. Overall, Aladdin may have a half decent score but fails to capture the magic of the original film. I give Aladdin a 2/10.