Poor and unnecessary remake

Rating: 3/10 (1 June 2019)

I'll start by trying to review this like a stand alone film as opposed to a remake. There are a a few aspects of this film which are good, which is that the story and the songs are well written, and the setting is great, but of course this is no surprise. Sadly it doesn't shine through in all areas, most notably for the very poor CGI, as well as poor acting by most of the cast, especially from Mena Massoud who plays Aladdin. Now had this been an original release I would give this a 6/10, it's a distinctly average movie, good songs and story but with jokes that fall very flat, some poor acting and CGI.
The reality is however that this is a remake, a remake of a very accomplished film, and so this is where I have mixed feelings. Anyone who has watched the original and had the chance to fully appreciate it before watching the remake can see that the casting in this movie is undeniably very bad. Aladdin lacks the charm and charisma which defined the original character, Jasmin lacks that distinct kind of fiery character of the original, Jafar has become this very generic bad guy, again nothing like the original, and as for the Genie, well Will Smith was just never gonna come close to the incredible performance of Robin Williams. The casting in this remake is just all wrong, and I find it quite disappointing. Honestly I don't think there really was a need to remake this movie in the first place as the original is still fantastic. Ultimately this version is easily good enough to entertain children, so sure you can take your kids to the cinema to watch it and they'll love it no doubt. But what irks me is that the next generation kids are gonna grow up watching this shoddy remake which is just a mere shadow of it's predecessor, and that the pure class of the original may no longer be appreciated by many.
I do wish Disney would stop doing this as it's killing the classics. At least if you're gonna go through the effort to remake a classic then cast the right actors for the part and don't skimp on the CGI, otherwise what's the point other than to just money grab at the box office, it's just greed and a lack of original ideas which is killing cinema, and it's for this reason I have to lower my rating because I just can't advocate this garbage. If you want to enjoy the story of Aladdin, watch the original as it's far superior in every single way and if possible try to even find a classic cinema that can play the original if you want to take your kids to see it for the first time.