Throwing in my two cents *spoilers*
Alrighty then! I didn’t hate this movie... which surprised me, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it, but thankfully a friend of mine gave me their ticket so
I could check it out, and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed.
I think a lot of the negative reviews I’ve read on this site are more upset with how much Disney has done these “live-action” remakes, and I will admit they get pretty tiring, however, like all movies I review, I am just judging this solely as a movie, and nothing else.
Pro:
Guy Ritchie... I’m impressed. His direction on this movie was solid, well thought out, executed strongly, and played off well. Their are several moments his style shines through, and it’s neat to see a combo of the type of stuff he’s directed, from his music videos, to crime films about street urchins- hey! Now I see why he’s actually a good choice to direct this movie!
Naomi Scott as Jasmine was stunning!! I’ve read a few reviews that say the acting isn’t good in this movie, and to them I say, DID YOU SEE NAOMI SCOTT? Her performance as Jasmine is so well defined! For a movie that could have been a paycheck performance, Scott gives it her all, and gives new depth to a well established character.
Mena Massoud’s Aladdin was really good as well. He gave an excellent vocal performance, (to those say he’s using auto-tuning, all I say is check your sources) and his delivery was very believable with him playing a street rat. I enjoy his performance.
Will Smith as the genie was probably my biggest sigh of relief. He gave a strong performance as a laid back genie who was funny, and showed a soft side to the genie that was there to have fun, while helping Aladdin out. Their are moments in this movie he made me laugh hard. (“Move away from the jams”) and his ‘Friend like me’ was so much fun to watch.
Alan Menken’s score just bursts energy, and life. One of the things I felt was lacking in the “beauty and the beast” remake was the orchestrations left a lot to be desired. Here, the orchestrations ooze an Arabian feel in almost every song, and every note of the score, with a new vibe that was a sure welcome one!
The cinematography in this movie is surprisingly really good! Alan Stewart really shows off some impressive camera work in this, where lesser cinematographers wouldn’t have made this look as good as it did.
The editing in this movie has some impressive cuts in it that I was blown away by. Specifically, look at the scene where Jafar steals the lamp from Aladdin, and the way it’s edited is so well done. Props to James Herbert, and Guy Ritchie.
Cons:
Marwan Kenzari’s performance as Jafar was very over the top! From his first line, the theater I was in was laughing at his performance. I think his performance would work much better on stage than it did on screen. He really jammed it up here, and it was ridiculous.
Alan Tudyk’s Iago was... come on Ritchie! You have a very funny man playing a very funny character. I don’t know why Iago was cut down so heavily to this pathetic nothing. Tudyk could have been spitting one-liners throughout the movie! When you have a funny actor, USE THEM!
Again, I don’t hate this movie, and I know live action remakes are getting tiring every day, but that being said, I like it when it’s done well. The reviews I’ve read on here are extremely short, and I really want more explanation to why you didn’t care for that part. Whenever I list a con, I usually try to explain how I think it could have been done to work in the movie, so I want to hear from you how it could have been better... or you can just call me names, whatever you prefer. Thanks for reading!