A Slightly Flawed, But Excellent Film

Rating: 9/10 (27 June 2019)

For my first noting, I'd like to start with the film's ensemble cast, casting, performances, and characters.
Mena Massoud, first off, was awesome as Aladdin! Extremely perfect for the part! I'm not sure how many people think this, but he looked so much like the character from the original film, and performed him so well, that it was like the actual character was in the building! To boot, Massoud did an excellent job at bringing in his own flair, personality, and dimensionalism to the character.
Admittedly, the Aladdin in this version certainly isn't as smart as the Aladdin in the animated film, but, he's still quick-witted, clever, and as kind as ever. The character also had some great development throughout the film, not just like in the original Disney classic, but...he developed through having to come to terms with who he is as a person, as well as trying to keep his moral compass alive.
Naomi Scott's casting and performance as Jasmine is another element of the movie I highly commend. I know that there was some early criticism about Scott's casting in the early stages of the film, but, in all honesty, she fit the role of Jasmine like a pea in a pod! She killed it! She was not only able to preserve the character's rebelliousness and desire for independence, she also gave her character a newfound sense of authority and leadership, not just for herself, but for others. Just like Massoud, she even made it seem like the real deal was actually there.
Jasmine herself even had some newfound development, building throughout the film to show the marks of a true leader.
The addition of Jasmine's best friend and handmaiden, Dalia, proved to be really fun too. So did Nasim Pedrad's performance and casting. I know that many have likely passed over Pedrad and her character, but...Pedrad did a wonderful job at portraying Dalia, giving her great personality and comedic-timings. Plus, Dalia proved to be such an essential part of the whole film, that you'd be left wishing the character was in the original animated classic.
But, perhaps the best cast member out of everyone, who also gave the most winning performance of all in this movie...is Will Smith, and his character of the Genie. Truthfully, when I found out that Smith was going to be portraying the Genie, I was a little skeptical, mainly because of how much Robin Williams truly owned the role. However, as time went on, it suddenly clicked in my head that he would fit the part wonderfully, especially after seeing his work in "Hitch" and recalling his comedic moments in "Independance Day" (both of which I deeply apologize for not reviewing yet, by the way). I was overjoyed by the announcement that he wasn't going to be directly copying Robin Williams, so it made me all-the-more interested in seeing Smith in the role.
And you know what?
Will Smith really rocked the house as the Genie!
He did such a terrific job portraying the character by making the role something of his own. He even brought fantastic energy and emotion to the character, as well as gave him comedic-timings and a personality that made his Genie all-the-more different from Robin Williams's Genie. Additionally, he did a brilliant job developing his character into someone really human.
Now if I'm going to be honest, there was one element of the casting and performances that I wasn't a big fan of:
Marwan Kenzari, and his casting and portrayal as Jafar.
I have nothing against the actor personally, he's obviously quite talented (that considering he's likely not among the most famous, such as Smith), and I was willing to give him a chance and see if he could surprise me, partly due to not wanting to judge him based on the trailers alone.
The problem, however (and that comes from after seeing the whole film), is that Kenzari was awfully miscast. He was too young for the part of Jafar, and because of Jafar's youth, it makes one question how long he was the Sultan's Royal Vizier to begin with. Additionally, it seemed like no matter how far Kenzari extended himself as an actor, he just wasn't able to make the character threatening or imtimidating enough. It is especially compared to Jonathan Freeman's portrayal in the original film, even voice-wise. Kenzari's efforts literally didn't make the character someone to take seriously in this movie, and translated him as more of a wimp than anything else.
Overall, Kenzari would've been much more suited for some other character in the film rather than Jafar, and Jafar himself should've been played by someone much older compared to Kenzari. The person that I, along with my mother and some friends of mine, thought would've fit the part of Jafar like a glove was Ben Kingsley. I know, he's white, but considering he has such as large versatility as an actor, and that he can successfully play any role he's given, Kingsley would have been a much better choice for the part of Jafar.
The next subject will be on the film's story, made by Guy Ritchie and John August, as well as the direction by the former. I will say that while they weren't able to measure up to the awesomeness of of the original, the two of them were still able to make the film great in its own right.
I get the point, Guy Ritchie is obviously quite the odd choice to some as director of this movie, but...I thought that he was perfect for the job, and that's partly coming from a guy who's a big fan of his work in the Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey Jr. (which I likewise apologize for not reviewing yet, but hope too soon). The chase and action moments were astonishingly some of the film's best moments.
The story and screenplay by Ritchie and John August was quite an eventful one, with lots of surprises to boot. It was a definite balance of both familiar and new, in that while the concept was pretty much like the animated film, there were still things about it that made the film its own thing. Examples of that include the dance scene between Aladdin and Jasmine, which wasn't in the original at all.
The only thing I wasn't completely fond of concerning the story and direction was that the recreations of scenes from the original, such as the introduction to the Cave of Wonders, were too quick-paced. They needed some fleshing out, and didn't have enough time to really breathe. I know, they obviously didn't want the film to be too long, but still.
Likewise, the film had some pretty solid humor here and there. The best jokes in the film, especially, come from that of the Genie and Dalia. For instance, in the dance scene, when Aladdin had no idea how to dance, I couldn't help but find the part where Genie was using his magic to make Aladdin do all those dance moves to be hysterical!
Admittedly, the CGI in the film certainly wasn't the best, but...it was still pretty good. The effects used with the animals were certainly great. Rajah the Tiger, Abu the Capuchin Monkey, and Iago the Scarlet Macaw (voiced by Alan Tudyk, and whose character is a regular parrot in contrast to Gilbert Gottfried's character) literally seemed like real animals. The motion capture effects used with the genie forms of Genie and Jafar were all delightfully spot-on too.
I must say that out of all of them, though, I was incredibly astounded by the CGI used with the magic carpet. I didn't think it'd be possible to have the use of him in CGI match up to his animated counterpart, but, the effects team successfully did it. My Mom, grandmother, and I could barely comprehend how they did it and if the character was even a real carpet or not.
My final noting, just like my review on the animated film, will be on the music that the movie had, done by true Disney musical genius, Alan Menken.
Menken's work in this film was astounding! That's not to say it's even better than the original's music, but still...he killed it!
I love how he was able to really extend himself for this feature, giving the music a noticeably new Arabian and Middle-Eastern feeling that was wonderful for this live-action update. The songs in this version, old and new, were enormously catchy and enjoyable to listen to, bringing in faithfulness to the original soundtrack, but at the same time, bringing a flair of its own, something that the soundtrack from the 2017 Beauty and the Beast film particularly lacked (exceptions from the latter film being "Days in the Sun" and "Evermore").
A special credit that I'd like to give in terms of the lyrics goes to the fact that much of Tim Rice's and the late Howard Ashman's work was kept, as well as towards Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (both of whom wrote the songs for "The Greatest Showman") for adding in their own brilliant creativity. The best ones, in my opinion, that were sung by the surprisingly amazing singing chops of Massoud, Scott, and Smith, were "One Jump Ahead", "Friend Like Me", "Prince Ali", and "Speechless". The music video version of "Speechless" was what I thought to be the best version of the latter song.
In the end, while the live-action Aladdin certainly won't topple the 1992 animated classic in terms of sheer awesomeness due to Kenzari's casting and performance as Jafar, and many of the recreated scenes being too quick, it's still an excellent film in its own right thanks to the music, smart direction and storytelling, CGI, and terrific casting and performances by Massoud, Scott, Pedrid, and Smith, the latter whose performance and comedic-chops would make Robin Williams extremely proud. It was a great way to pay homage to the late Williams and Ashman despite the setbacks I mentioned.