Surprised by all the positive comments

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2009)

I found this Disney re-working to be an incredibly pedestrian affair, with the animation itself the only truly laudable aspect of the whole affair. The story is changed from the tale of old, and although I don't have a problem with that, the Americanisation of the character Aladdin and the endless spewing of anachronistic pop-culture references by Robin William's hyper-kinetic Genie give the film a plastic, manufactured feel.
If Robin William's manic style of delivery isn't your cup of tea you're going to hate this film. While his character is intensely annoying, he does at least lift the film from the lethargic mire into which it had settled before he makes his belated entrance. The story is boring and predictable, the jokes weak and the songs mostly forgettable. The film's uneasy blending of modern-day materialistic preoccupation and Arabian Knights mythology doesn't work, and its sniffy dismissal of foreign cultures and positive assertion of Western aspirations borders on racism. Only the evil vizier Jafar, reminiscent of Basil Rathbone at his most villainous, scores as a memorable character...