Great visuals and all, but missing that "magic"

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2019)

When it comes to visuals, through out the movie was just... beautiful- the clothes, culture and architecture. Will Smith's Genie was unexpectedly good and created his OWN version which is great! As for the rest of the major characters? Well...
Jaafar was a bit of a let down from the beginning. Not menacing enough on the outside. Yet still cunning in some ways. Can't say much about his parrot... Jasmine's dad was disappointingly boring (prefer the bubbly albeit blur cartoony-version). Jasmine herself was alright (neither great nor terrible). The "feminist" like scenes were like an unecessary extra and a bit annoying to watch (don't ask me why). Abu (monkey) was cute. He was captured nicely. And lastly Aladdin? For a break through actor, he actually did a good job portraying Aladdin. EXCEPT his relationship with Jasmine...
..And THAT'S where the "magic" is missing. The core lovey-dovey magic thats hard to explain except through emotions. I feel it's one of the major things that makes Disney's Aladdin.. "ALADDIN"! But I felt nothing from the "Whole New World" scene. No chemistry between the two "lovers". Even in other scenes...
This is similarly felt between Aladdin & Genie. Particularly towards the end. The lack of that "core" emotion is so disappointing that I couldn't enjoy the movie as a whole. It just felt more on how it looked rather how it SHOULD feel. I mean this is Aladdin! Where's the magic?