Aladdin

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Aladdin is the newest in a long line of animated Disney movies to receive a live action remake. This may be the one I was the most curious about, as well as the most cautious. For those who may not know, the original Aladdin from 1992 is actually my favorite Disney movie, as well as one of my favorite movies of all time. So, this is a film that I think could have easily been a coin toss as to whether or not I liked it. OK, the final product is actually a movie I enjoyed. The film is legitimately well-acted, especially by Will Smith as the Genie and Naomi Scott as Jasmine. Will Smith as the Genie was something where I wasn't entirely sure how I would feel about it. Smith is one of my favorite actors, but the late, great Robin Williams is so linked to this character. I was also curious to see how Guy Ritchie did with directing this movie. In all honesty, his direction is fine. Some of weird quirks were a little distracting, and didn't feel like they added anything to the film. For the most part, I felt that the characters were in tact. However, there were two exceptions to this. Iago (voiced by Alan Tudyk) had lines here and there, but completely lacked personality. The same could be said of the Sultan (played by Navid Neghaban). I am far more likely to remember the lovable dimwit from the animated version than this version. The effects are a bit of mixed bag to me. There were points where I thought they worked well-enough, such as on the animals. On the other hand, some of the backgrounds were pretty noticeably fake. I know that my review for this movie has been pretty all over the place, but that also kind of mirrors my overall thoughts and feelings about this film. There is both a lot of good in this film and a lot of bad. Yes, I do think the good just barely outweighs the bad. It is enough for me to give this film a soft recommendation. Do I think you need to rush out and see this film? No. But, I would recommend renting it when it comes out on video.

6 / 10