A sumptuous and lavish remake with very little heart...

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2020)

Sometimes I really do yearn for a return to the wonderful stop-motion world of Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer - don't you? Sure there was a surfeit of plasticine, things on strings and dodgy green screen, but there was also a sense of authenticity and creativity - and not just the, admittedly impressive, output of a sophisticated computer programme. In this version of the tale of a street urchin, who vies for possession of the magic lamp with the ambitiously manipulative Grand Vizier - Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott and Marwan Kenzari do their jobs well enough - in a sort of off-broadway fashion. Will Smith certainly oozes charisma as the now famous blue genie but everyone is just too pretty. The production is just too slick; scenery and costumes too perfect - it isn't (and I know is will sound stupid to say of a film about a magic lamp) real! The digital mastery of the real life/animation sequences is flawless, but it has no soul and is far too long, sorry - even if it is a billion dollar movie (or because that's all it really ever wanted to be?).