Jafars Face

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2019)

Aladdin
Okay so I saw the original Aladdin sometime ago before I turned 10 years old so this review is pretty unbiased. Aladdin is played by Mena Massoud and Princess Jasmin is played by Naomi Scott. It goes without mention that Will Smith plays the iconic genie that was previously played the late Robin Williams. There were some surprising elements in this movie so let's get started.
The movie jumps off pretty quickly. I was surprised that Aladdin didn't get much of an introduction to who and what he is. I was ironically also fooled that Princess Jasmin made such a quick appearance and believed when she said she isn't the princess and is Dalia. The introduction to both characters and love interest all happens in about ten minutes which I thought was pretty quick. It was like somebody put their hands up and said whoa whoa whoa because the movie does slow down quite a bit. Aladdin is charismatic and his bond with the monkey, Abu, really shine through and you clearly get that Aladdin is a good dude and only does what he can to survive. Basically he's not greedy despite the monkey taking Jasmin's bracelet that her mother gave her.
The same is true for the Villain Jafar who is played by Marwan Kenzari. He's introduced very quickly and I wasn't sure what his place was in the kingdom. As mentioned, the movie does slow down a bit and the characters arcs are well established. We know what they want and we're locked in for the ride. In comes Will Smith. I was so surprised by Will Smith. He got so much backlash from the media, but honestly, i think he was the best part of the movie. You can accept this if you accept that this isn't Robin Williams. Simple as that. It was definitely an uphill battle for him and he clearly earned his paycheck. It was a little odd seeing him blue, but it's really not that bad at all.
This does bring me to the set and wardrobe for the movie as well. This is totally a Disney movie in the way that everything is perfect. Despite the set of the scene being sandy and dirty (he is a thief) everybody is spic and span clean. That's probably being petty and I agree. The Set is something that kind of takes away from the movie for me. The set was so pristine that it didn't allow for the disconnect from reality that we crave when watching a movie. Rather than a film, it was almost like a play. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful movie to watch, but the attempt to make it like the animation didn't translate so great film wise if that makes sense.
This brings me to the acting. Now I know that acting is an extremely tough job but some characters fell short. Aladdin for example is charismatic and the skill is obviously there, but the clumsiness and not knowing what to do kind of drags for a while and begs for a relief. Naomi Scott however does a very good job in the acting as well as the singing. She has a great voice and shines in the song A Whole New World. Hands down a great performance. I also felt that Mena and Naomi did have some great on-screen chemistry. I have seen better but it's nothing to complain about. On the other hand, I'm not sure what was going with the close ups and camera angles. It may have been the wardrobe and play like set up that made this feel a bit corny. There's a couple close ups of Jafar that are almost comical and over the top. The cinematography of the film really gives this movie some extra lives. Especially in the climax.
Overall this was a good movie and i did enjoy it a lot. I was pleasantly surprised by Will Smith's performance, Naomi's voice and acting, the brightness and vivid cinematography and Mena's and Naomi's chemistry made for a good movie. With all this in mind I'm going to give this movie 6.8/10.