Too Many Miscasts, Just Watch the Original

Rating: 3/10 (31 August 2019)

The only casting in this movie that was even decent was Naomi Scott's Jasmine. Her portrayal of Jasmine felt (if I remember correctly) relatively faithful, and more than anyone else she was the only one who felt like she belonged in the movie's world, if only barely. Mena Massoud's Aladdin felt like he was putting on a broadway show (and only being decent at it) rather than portraying a live action character. Marwan Kenzari's Jafar looked like he was bored out of his mind and wanted to go home, and lacked the energy and emotion of the original Jafar. Plus, he didn't even get to sing "Prince Ali (Reprise)". Will Smith was decent as the Genie but his casting was a huge mistake. He had Will Smith's charisma, but too much of what he did was just Will Smith being Will Smith. Nasim Pedrad's Dalia added nothing meaningful to the story (Genie did NOT need a love interest), and worse yet, overacted everything. In general, the cast lacked the energy, heart, charm, and charisma of the original versions. If they'd replaced it with something meaningful, this would be a different story.