One Leap Ahead of the Critics (Aladdin Live Action Review)

Aladdin has always been one of, if not my top, favorite Disney movie. I love the story, the songs, the energy, and the characters. When I heard they were making a live action version I was skeptical, and perhaps a little angry. When I heard Will Smith was going to play Genie and saw him all made up - I thought it was going to be a massive failure.

The movie proved me wrong and then some. The remake is wonderful and rivals the original. Let me break it down a little.

So the story is pretty much the exact same. There are a few changes, such as how Aladdin meets Jasmine and certain characters have different conclusions. The changes do nothing but help the film. The beginning moments felt a little rushed but helped us get passed the necessary build ups we're familiar with.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The movie opens on Will Smith and his family on a sail boat. They were going to an undisclosed location and the children ask for Will Smith to tell them a story. He sings "Arabian Night", very well - I might add, and we get a sweeping shot of Agrabah. We see Aladdin stealing and Jasmine offering bread to children. From here the story continues mostly the same.

Being introduced to Aladdin's actor, Mena Massoud, was a little disheartening. It was hard to feel emotion from him during the first several minutes. He didn't feel as charismatic as his character should be. This, however, changes as the movie goes on. I learned to enjoy him as the titular lead.

Jasmine's character and actress on the other hand was perfect from start to finish. Naomi Scott does a great job portraying the character and has a wonderful singing voice. She gets her own song in this movie, an addition that was not in the original, called "Speechless" and it certainly rivaled my original favorite of "One Jump Ahead". A great song, a great character, and a great actress - I have nothing but good things to say about her.

We meet Jafar a little later on and we get a bit of a different back story. He is played by Marwan Kenzari and he does a decent enough job. Jafar, instead of just being the adviser, used to be a common thief like Aladdin. He was imprisoned before working his way up to adviser. In his eyes, power is the only way to get respect and what you want. He says, "If you aren't strongest in the room - then you are nothing." I enjoyed seeing this character as just not evil for evil's sake. It was a nice change.

So what about Will Smith as Genie? I'm sure this is everyone's worry, as I know it was mine. I'm happy to say that he knocked it out of the park. Robin Williams will always be the iconic version, and thankfully Will Smith does not try to replace him. He makes the character his own without damaging the original. Will Smith was very much enjoyable as Genie. He had the energy and comedy and really made it work. His interactions with Aladdin were wonderful and always a treat to witness. There wasn't a single joke that didn't hit it's mark when the two were on screen together. I laughed out loud several times near the film's conclusion.

How about the music? Did the new cast bring the same energy and love to these tunes? Absolutely. Each singer did a great job and the choreography was phenomenal. I cannot stress it enough how well the musical scenes were done. Aladdin's parkour in "One Jump Ahead" was fun and exciting. The dance number later on during a harvest party was so enjoyable. Will Smith's "Friend Like Me", while not as good as the animated version, was still fun and lively. The movie did not only do the songs justice, they did them almost better then the original.

Now the film isn't perfect. Aladdin's and Jasmine's initial interactions were a bit rushed. Iago's character is more or less non-existent. Gilbert Gottfried made the character fun and goofy and now we have a parrot that speaks occasionally. He really serves little to no purpose in this adaptation.   The Sultan's character is also a little less fun. In the animated version we got a fun, childish old man. In this one we got a tired leader, one who is exhausted from leading this country. Is that more realistic? Absolutely. But in a movie about a jolly blue giant, realism isn't really wanted.

What more can I say other than - go see this movie. It was great and was a really fun time. I do believe it is worthy of a whole lot of praise and the 9/10 that I'll award it. Not quite perfect but certainly a great time.

Have you seen this movie? Do you plan on watching it? Let me know what you think in the comments and subscribe to the blog to get email updates. Thanks for reading and as always, Good night and joy be with you