Not bad... but far from the original

Rating: 7/10 (22 June 2019)

When I first saw images from what would be a live action recap of Alladin with Will Smith as the genie I didn't have the greater of expectations. I thought it would be dull, unnecessary and that ol'prince of Bel Air would ruin his career (which is not in great shape for him since the poor After Earth). Most people thought the same as me, arguably regarding Will's blue role, as he would be no match for the late Robin Williams. I was not planning to go see it at the movie theater but when positive reviews started to come out (to my surprise) I thought I should go and check it for myself.
The movie actually isn't that bad but is also far from being such a gem like its cartoon counterpart. It has some great moments and a few things here and there were rearranged to meet nowadays perspectives, most notably the fact that Jasmine fights for her freedom despite the fact shes's a princess, due to his overprotective father. She strugles to show that she's a strong woman, capable of staying ahead of her country as ruler and achieve a higher life quality for the inhabitants of Agrabah.
Aladdin is very well portraied but he's not great, as was with the animated Aladdin. Jaffar was an iconic, insidious and nefarious character in the original version and the new one presented himself way lower than the animated one. I guess that occurs because the animated Jaffar is such a cliche figure with his voice, face, and all his tone while the live action version has no soul. He doesn't seem evil or cunning. And against all odds, Will Smith nails his perfomance as the Genie. He's off course a different genie than the one Robin portraied, but by no means is inferior. He's just... him, ina different tone.
The first and second acts are ok, there are really some moments but as the movie develops, it becomes more and more uneffective as narrative. At some point, some actions simply had no sense at all and you ask yourself where is that cool atmosphere of the beginning.
All in all is a good movie and some good entertainment if you are new to the tale.If you're like me and watched the 1992'´s version, you will enjoy the movie though without having a strange feeling of something was lacking.