Hit or miss

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2019)

The acting in this movie was all over the place. There were some moments where they were amazing, like in their new scenes, and other moments where the acting/singing felt forced and more like a Bollywood/Highscool Musical movie rather than the original Disney movie. Luckily, as the movie progresses, so does its performance. We start seeing more and more passion from the actors/actresses and even get a glimpse of some quirky Disney charm, which is almost enough to save the whole movie.
Marwan Kenzari's Jafar is by far the biggest disappointment of this movie. Instead of seeing the cunning and intelligent Royal Vizier, we get a very bland and boring little helper. He alone almost ruins the whole movie. He shows less facial expressions than Kirsten Stewart and is more monotone than a speak and spell. Sad to see such a great character wasted.
This movie was saved partially by the increased performance in the second half, and by the overall performances of Naomi Scott and Will Smith.
Naomi Scott, whose powerful and independent take was a bit to get used to, makes us look back to 1992 and wish they had shown more of Jasmine. We get to see how she struggles with being trapped inside the walls of the palace and deprived of the power she so eagerly desires. It was definitely a nice change of pace
Will Smith's version of the Genie, if Robin Williams' rendition didn't exist, was really superb and modern. Unfortunately for Smith, Robin Williams aced the Genie roll and, though he did a great job, Will Smith couldn't quite fill the shoes Williams left behind.
Overall, it both went above, and well below my expectations and was just a rollercoaster of phenomenal and horrendous acting.