"Aladdin" Movie Review

by John Zenoni

Absolutely loved this live version of 'Aladdin'! I have read many reviews by critics who have slammed it for not being like the original but you can’t do an exact comparison and it's not fair to this new version to do that. The casting was spot on, especially that of Will Smith as Genie. Does he have the same rapid-fire responses or antics as Robin Williams? No, no one can match Robin Williams in that regard and he will always be the original Genie. But Will Smith does a great job on his own and is the next best thing to Robin Williams being in this version. He looked like he was having a blast and it made for an enjoyable film. The other actors all did a great job in their roles, particularly Marwan Kenzari as Jafar. He played the role as an evil villain to the max and it made the ending that much better. The non-human characters - the monkey, the magic carpet, the parrot, the tiger - were fun to watch in their interactions with the live castmembers. The movie stayed pretty true to the classic 1992 animated version so it made the storyline easy to follow. But what I enjoyed most about this film was the music, vibrant color and special effects! THIS is how to make a live version or remake - whatever you want to call it - of an animated film and I give kudos to Guy Ritchie for doing a great job. Tim Burton should have watched and observed this one being made and then perhaps ‘Dumbo’ would have been much better. This is one I could see again and I loved being with my granddaughters to watch it. The movie had them in a trance, even the 2 1/2 year old, so that should tell you something. I just hope that the next live version film of a Disney classic, ‘The Lion King’, exceeds or at least matches this one! I can’t wait to find out!





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