Just so flat and so far short of the mark

Rating: 2/10 (28 September 2019)

I was hoping for something passable, I was not expecting anything great....I did not even get that. I found myself skipping over parts of the movie just to get to the songs and set pieces and even they were just disappointment.
This version has no charm, Aladdin's part in "A whole new world" was just flat, there was no emotion to it no strength when the song changes key and is meant to step up a gear it just doesn't. Jasmine's singing voice is far superior but due to the lack of any soul in Aladdin when is meant to be one of the most iconic duets in this part of Disney history felt more like a high school attempt.
Jafar was just a generic bad guy, he failed to come across as the scheming villian he was portrayed as originally. Poor Iago, what did they do to you....in the original Iago was a living breathing character with real lines and interaction. I loved the original Iago he was a coniving as Jafar. Here.....what was he? Practically nothing...
All of the heart, all of the charm that the original had they forgot to put into this version. Which leaves us with the biggie....the Genie....
Will Smith, you were a brave BRAVE man for taking on such a role that Robin WIlliams was loved for the world over. You were never going to get an easy ride on this one. If you tried to just imitate Robin you would've been called a coward and I do not think you could've done it. It making the role more your own, you tried....you really did. The musical numbers you had just did not feel as impactful as when Robin did them. I think that was the problem....they did not go BIG enough with Genie for you. A lot of why it worked for Robin is because he was just so over the top and crazy and ...well...Robin...
You, Will Smith, can be just as big and just as crazy but it felt like Disney just held back as if they were too scared to let you off the leash and really OWN the role. You weren't bad....I just think the Genie was not the other thing that was stuck was shackled and lacked freedom.
Jasmine's new song added nothing to the film, it was added purely to try and push the whole female empowerment aspect of the movie....the original managed that already by showing Jasmine speaking out and standing up for herself. The song was well performed, if just felt like padding and extra run time that did not enhance the movie.
It felt almost like they look at Moana and "how far I'll go" and wanted a similar song to try and show that same strength for Jasmine, but it just did not work.
This is the first live action re-imagining of Disney I have watched and I have to saw I do not have hope for the others....