Protagonist > Antagonist

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2019)

Better than I expected. Of course the Genie was always going to be a problem. And it's probably the main reason why this never should have been remade in the first place, but here we are, and I will attempt to judge it fairly.
For me, the reason why this works better than some of the most recent Disney "live-action" remakes, is obviously the fact that most of the main characters are human. Unlike The Lion King, which didn't stop them from making the animals more like animals, instead of humans like in the original. To the point were you are no longer able to relate to them or tell what their expressions mean.
Anyway, the writers made som changes to the story in this remake, which I liked, particularily relating to Jasmine (Naomi Scott). They made the character more wholesome and a lot more relevant to what's going on. It certainly gave the actor a lot more to work with, and she really shines in this movie.
The thing I was most worried about beforehand, was probably the songs, but I actually think they did a pretty good job with it. The song "Speechless", which did a lot for both the character and Naomi Scott's voice, was a particular highlight.
Lastly, there was only one thing I really did not like, and that was everything relating to Jafar. Just like Scar in the above-mentioned Lion King-remake, he is not nearly menacing enough. And it certainly didn't help that the actor looked like he had stepped right off the set of Jersey Shore.
Also, the character was sort of under-developed. Of course power was always his main motivation, but they very rarily tapped into his relationships with any of the other characters, and he didn't really stay in power long enough for it to become the movie's main conflict. Aladdin and Jasmine's inner conflicts were much more interesting. The whole thing with Jafar was just sort of background noise.
7/10