Aladdin

Unlike many people, I don't really have a problem with all of Disney's live-action remakes of their animated classics.  I've enjoyed most of them, especially Cinderella and The Jungle Book, and I am really looking forward to The Lion King later this summer.  However, the 1992 version of Aladdin is one of my favorite movies so I was really nervous about what Guy Ritchie might do with it (King Arthur is a convoluted and bloated mess) and I didn't really like the casting of Will Smith as the genie.  Despite my misgivings, I decided to to see it last night and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  In fact, I really loved it!  The story of how a street rat wins the love a princess with the help of a genie freed from a magic lamp doesn't stray too far from the 1992 version but it does give Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) a powerful new story arc that I really appreciated.  I also really liked her new song, "Speechless."  Mena Massoud is an incredibly appealing and charismatic Aladdin and he has great chemistry with Scott.  Both of them have lovely singing voices and I especially loved their rendition of "A Whole New World."  I also, rather surprisingly, liked Smith as the genie.  He is a lot of fun and, in my opinion, he does enough to make the iconic role originated by Robin Williams his own, particularly in "Friend Like Me."  I didn't hate the CGI blue genie but I did prefer it when Smith physically portrays the character in human form while at the palace.  The genie's interactions with Aladdin when they officially meet Princess Jasmine are absolutely hilarious!  Ritchie's idiosyncratic style of directing is most evident in "One Jump Ahead" but the stylized action sequences really work here as Aladdin eludes the guards through Agrabah.  My favorite song in the 1992 version is "Prince Ali" and the big production number in this movie is quite the spectacle and did not disappoint (I even liked the elephants).  The costumes are absolutely spectacular and the production design, especially the palace, is fantastic.  Sometimes the CGI is really obvious and I didn't particularly care for how Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) is portrayed, but I found the movie as a whole to be very magical!  Ignore the critics and go see it!