Could have been better, but not bad either

Rating: 5/10 (17 September 2019)

Overall this movie was just...OK. It largely followed the plot of Disney's animated Aladdin, with some positive and negative changes.
I know a lot of people were concerned about Will Smith as the Genie, but I really think he did a good job especially considering the expectations set forth by the original. I actually think the blue worked well, as he was not blue the whole time, and they kept his amorphous shape despite the restrictions of live action. It actually kind of feels like all of their budget went into the Genie's character and CGI at the expense of the other characters (I will continue this in a bit).
Some of the differences I thought were overall positive changes:
-Jasmine's father is much more fatherly and serious, as would be expected of a quality leader
-The framing of the story being told by the now-human Genie
-Giving Jasmine a friend aside from Rajah (this allowed for some funny and somewhat relatable moments)
-Giving one of the guards (Hakim in this case) some character development, back-story, and substance.
Some of the changes I could give or take:
-Jasmine has her own song. This is nice in concept, but I do not think it was well placed in the movie. Like she did a great job with it, but it felt forced in there and felt a little bit like "let it go". I think maybe this would have been better had it been earlier in the movie to show her drive, or maybe if they added a scene that would allow her to have a true "rock bottom" that she could get out of. (I'm not a story writer, needless to say, but I feel they way they did this was sloppy and rushed).
-Iago is less of a character. I'm not opposed as largely none of the other animals actually talked, and he sounded more like a parrot to fit the live action.
-Jasmine wanting to become Sultan. This isn't a bad change, but I also like the Jasmine that just wanted to be free from the responsibilities and constraints of being a princess forced to marry a prince. Live-action Jasmine seemed more confident and less naive, but some of my favorite scenes from animated Jasmine were missing (such as when she confidently jumped across the buildings, or stood her ground against the guards when they came to take Aladdin, revealing herself as the princess). I think lacking these scenes detracted from her character and confidence.
-I neither like nor dislike freeing Genie by turning him human.
General negatives about the movie (in my opinion of course):
-Jafar. He had a few good moments and some improved character development, but overall he was a miss. He was not menacing enough as far as his acting is concerned, but I also think the movie-makers and script writers did nothing to help him. Regarding what I said earlier about putting all their budget into Genie, I think they could have given Jafar a little more help with the special effects. I would have loved to see him turn into a snake (or something), as he was just not threatening enough as is. The magic he used while being an all-powerful sorcerer was pretty unimpressive and didn't feel that magical. Iago turning big was not bad, but not as strong a threat as the snake or nearly suffocating Jasmine (or anyone for that matter) in an hourglass. I'm not saying they had to be the same, but the stakes were just not as high in the live action. With all the things Genie created or transformed into in the live action, I'm not convinced the writers couldn't have done something more interesting and transformative with Jafar.
-Related to Jafar, he did not have his Prince Ali reprise where he revealed Aladdin's true identity (another place I think special effects could have been improved as well). This part was quite underwhelming.
-There was generally a lot of cringey moments, mostly between Jasmine and Aladdin. I understand trying to convey the awkwardness of potential feelings, but I was almost overwhelmed with the secondhand embarrassment. The animated characters were a bit more charming and less awkward, but still believable.
-I felt this movie glossed over some major character development points for both Jasmine and Aladdin.
-Jasmine did not have a point where she genuinely feared Aladdin had been killed.
-Considering the movie is called Aladdin, I did not feel he was given a big enough hero, save the day type moment. I also feel the focus was more on Jasmine at times (not necessarily a bad thing, but it did feel out of balance at times). Other times the focus fell on Genie just because he is a more interesting character.
I know others have recommended that you step back and try and view this movie through a fresh lens instead of through the lens of the animated version, but I think it is difficult to evaluate how it stands on its own since so many scenes were so like the animated version. It was not a bad movie, but I still felt there were generally also pacing issues, and so many cringe-worthy moments that I had a hard time with it now and again. It certainly doesn't have the same life and fun of the animated version, but of Disney's live action remakes, this was not the worst.