I'm a fan

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2020)

I'm a fan of 2019's remake of 'Aladdin'. It isn't as great as the original from twenty-seven years prior, though it does a fine job nevertheless.
Will Smith is no Robin Williams obviously, but no-one would ever have met the extremely high standards that Mr. Williams set as Genie. Smith does well, I enjoy his humour and overall performance in this.
Mena Massoud is very likeable as the titular character, I think he brings more life to Aladdin than Scott Weinger does from 1992. Naomi Scott is excellent as Jasmine, who is miles more developed in this production.
Now for the elephant in the room: Jafar.
Marwan Kenzari, if I only judge his performance, is more than satisfactory. However, he simply has to be judged based on Jonathan Freeman's version of the antagonist. Kenzari's Jafar is nowhere near as fearsome and devilish as he should be, I'm never uneasy when he appears here.
Away from the wannabe Sultan, I would've liked to have seen more of Abu and, especially, Iago - who should've been voiced by Gilbert Gottfried by the way. On the other hand, Navid Negahban is decent as Jasmine's father.
Overall, despite some iffy CGI and editing, it makes for entertaining viewing. The music, although changed, is as fun as before (I also liked Jasmine's new song, 'Speechless'). I've seen lesser remakes, that's for sure.