Aladdin (2019)

Disney, is relentlessly releasing its live action re-makes of all its classic cartoons and animation features. This year alone, saw the release of Dumbo, Lion King, and Aladdin. So far these ventures had been a bit of hits and misses. While I really liked the live versions of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and more recently, the Lion King, some of the live versions like The Jungle Book and Alice in the Wonderland didn't really improve on the original. So how about Aladdin? Well, I have to put this under the "misses" category.

The cast of unfamiliar faces taking on the main characters of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine(Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott) seemed a strange choice. Not only were their acting pedestrian, their singing ability were also nothing to shout about. This is despite the information provided by other reviews that they were selected because they could sing! I would say their standard is more what one can expect from a cast of a recurring Disney TV series. Even the computer generated monkey side-kick and magic carpet had better moments and screen presence. The only star quality comes from Will Smith as the Genie. At least he had fun with his role which was infectious.

Apparently the movie had included all the original songs from the animated movie which were composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice and Howard Ashman. However, I have to admit that apart from the signature tune of "A Brand New World" and the fun song by the Genie "Friend Like Me", the rest of the other songs were quite unremarkable and forgettable.

For me, a good Disney movie is one that transports me effortlessly into a fantasy land for about two hours, and reliving my childhood with its wondrous sets, music and song, and amazing characters. Aladdin lacked many of these elements although I could almost grasp it occasional .. Its elaborate setting for Princess Jasmine's kingdom, Agrabah was impressive, as was the parade marching in with the fake "Prince Ali". But the magic could not be sustained for the movie's running length of over two hours. Perhaps things might work out differently if the movie was "The Genie and the Magic Carpet" instead of "Aladdin"  :-)