Great start and finish sandwiched around out-of-place action-movie stretch

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2019)

For about the first 90 minutes, this was tremendously (and surprisingly) enjoyable - the humor, the music, the animation, the CGI. Great show. Had this geezer grandpa charmed.
Then comes about a 20-minute indulgence in spectacle over substance - big melodramatic confrontations of the Marvel comics, action picture, superhero variety.
The preceding "Aladdin" movie, which had proceeded in the spirit of its predecessors, is set aside. (Along the way, we also get the now-mandatory Disney female-empowerment song, particularly unnecessary for a Jasmine character that already has shown herself to be strong, independent, smart, wise, caring and bold while also being, by the way, incredibly beautiful and attractive to stud-muffin Aladdin. Now, go live up to that role model, girls!)
But finally, after all the chaos, we get the sweet ending, so all is forgiven.