A weird sort of remix of the Disney classic that has the cringe and production values as a high-school play and looks somehow more artificial than its animated counterpart.

Rating: 4/10 (4 February 2020)

Guy Ritchie's signature 'pave-over-the-cracks' editing and no sense of pace, rushes us around through the previous film's greatest hits in a totally awkward way. The film is too cartoony to be a more grounded reboot and is too realistic in places to have the charm of the animated version. I mean why is the monkey real except people still bounce and flip around in cartoon fashion? Why change The Sultan and take out all of his lightness, and why change Jafar to take away all of his menace? (although I sort of like his sort of sad beta male energy and street-rat backstory) It's a totally toothless film, no passion in the musical numbers, no reinvention, just a bunch of decisions made in the wrong direction. It's missing all of the magic and wit of the original in the same terrible street set over and over again and dull harsh sunlight; remember the beautiful wistful moonlight scene over Agrabah in Disney's Aladdin where Aladdin and Jasmine see the same landmark in two different ways? Both prisoners of their birth? His home more of a palace than hers? That's replaced in almost every way by a scene that looks like a Nickelodeon TV show.
I was nowhere nearly convinced by Naomi Scott before I saw the film and then almost immediately I was convinced at her ability to be a live action Disney Princess, her facial features, purity of look, and voice she puts on are pitch perfect Disney and reassuring. Mena Massoud as Aladdin was horrific at first, he looks like a waifish and oafish nerd and incapable of standing up for himself, the animated Aladdin was coy, sheepish but loveable and aspirational. However Massoud blossoms when he's Prince Ali, he's hilarious, it works, and his banter is on point.
Now, on to Will Smith's Genie. At first look, every decision to digitally animate his face is all kinds of uncanny valley and it looks like 1/3 of the performance that Will Smith usually gives and makes the Genie an unapproachable frightening alien figure. But every time he looks like Smith, despite being a cop out, you can see he's acting up a storm; a warm and human figure, I would happily see more of him free in a solo movie. He's funny and full of wisdom, it's a different approach to Robin Williams, but that's what we need in 2019. But I don't remotely believe his relationship with Aladdin due to some reshuffling of scenes and no real actual moments of warmth between them.
Menken's music is the real star here, just fun and modern enough and just reverential and nostalgic enough. It totally rides the line better than any other element of the film. It serves to make me ache even more for the spirit of the original.
This film reminds me of Snyder's Watchmen, a copy of a copy, it looks the same, but nothing of what I liked about the source material has been translated well. The film has none of the danger, magic or fourth-wall antics or lyricism of the original. It's got dodgy autotune and worse CGI. Everything is cringey about how off-brand it is. Like the Panda Cola version of Disney's Aladdin.