Aladdin, the story we all know and love, is about a titular profound thief falling in love with the princess of the fictional city Agrahbah when he acquires three wishes from a genie in the bottle.
Aladdin and Jasmine were casted perfectly with newcomer Mena Messaud playing Aladdin and Naomi Scott playing an incredibly vulnerable version of Jasmine. Chemistry between the actors was felt but at the same time you couldn't help but feel as though something was missing in the set up of their relationship. The casting of Will Smith as the genie in the bottle was the perfect idea. He served up most of the laughs in the film and provided comedic relief to an otherwise serious Disney film. At points, he was reminiscent of older Will Smith films.
As the film went on, it was perfect to see the true growth between Aladdin and Jasmine's inner characters. Aladdin was the thief he has always been but grew into much more due to his emotions for Jasmine. What I liked most about the film was the portrayal of Jasmine and watching her character's growth. It had no connection to her wanting Aladdin but rather become the true queen of Agrahbah. Her getting the strength to speak out was incredible to see in live action form.
One of the worst things of the film was the weak villain Jafar. The films portrayal looked nothing like the Jafar from the cartoon and portrays him as petty and without purpose.
Disney missed a bigger opportunity when it came to this film. It could have ventured into Bollywood dancing and culture, an avenue Disney could have dominated.
Nonetheless, a great supporting cast members helped carry the flim along. Nasim Pedrad portrayed the incredibly funny Dahlia and Bill Magnussen played Prince Anders. The movie isn't the best of Disney's live action attempts but the special effects are enough to go see it in the theater.
Though at the end I just couldn't help but feel like “Okay is this it?” an it was it. All in all this Disney movie fell short to me it was okay but I kind of felt like I could have waited to watch it at home, Although again I did love the wonderful parts of female empowerment and always speaking up for what's right and finally getting the courage to do that especially the showcase of it in “Kid film” is nothing short of amazing therefore that's enough to at least give the movie a shot to form your own opinion but this will go down in my book as a ………………….
Echo Grade: C
