Aladdin (2019)

Director: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott

A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true.

First things first: the visuals. Wow, impressive. Trust Guy Ritchie (and more than a generous helping of the latest CGI) to bring Aladdin to life in spectacular grandeur. The visuals in ‘Aladdin’ never ceases to amaze.

Now, the casting. I’m a Will Smith fan. He’s a versatile actor and I think he makes a wonderful Genie. He fits the profile like a glove. Pity I can’t say the same about our hero, Aladdin (Mena Massoud), and his love interest, the princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott). None of these two young actors have much film experience and I didn’t find them (Aladdin especially) strong enough to carry the film. There was no chemistry between them. (If there were chemistry between any of the characters, it would be between Aladdin and the Genie). The acting was unconvincing and left me cold. I felt nothing. Personally, I thought Aladdin was a stupid character and didn’t really root for him.

Will Smith was by far the main attraction, from a comedy perspective, and from an interesting character perspective. He even had the most interesting back story. Of everyone in the film, I cared most about him.

The production design is superb and the musical segments are stunning! The film is bright and colorful and in general has a very happy, entertaining feel to it. The music and score is also fantastic (except for the new version of ‘A Whole new world’, which I didn’t like at all).

The ending was oh-so-cheesy…

‘Aladdin’ was a huge box office hit, raking in more than $1 billion on a $183 million budget.

Would I watch it again? Yes, I think so.