“Aladdin” Crushed The Box Office, But Did It Crush Disney Fans Expectations? [REVIEW]

The Guy Ritchie directed live-action “Aladdin” starring Mena Massoud, Will Smith, and Naomi Scott premiered in theaters over Memorial Day weekend bringing in millions in box office revenue. The film is an adaptation of the 1992 Disney animated classic following the heart of gold street rat Aladdin navigating his way through Agrabah and trying to gain the love of Princess Jasmine.

Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, and Billy Magnussen also appear in the film bringing a new twist for the next generation of Disney viewers. I’ve been covering this film for quite some time; from cast announcements to teaser trailers. It’s been no secret that my feelings about this movie have gone back and forth. I would watch a teaser and get excited, then the first photos of Will Smith as Genie dropped and I hated them. Now that the final product is out, I went to the theaters to see how the film would appeal to a super fan of the 1992 animated film. SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

Photo: Disney

The Plot/The Characters

It was previously stated this “Aladdin” would be a “re-imagining” and not really a remake of the original, but the story didn’t diverge that much. Aladdin meets Jasmine way early in the film, like within the first few minutes, and the story picks up from there. The additional characters like Dalia and Prince Anders did provide some comedic relief, but their subplot was pointless to me. Fun characters like Iago and Abu were totally underused, especially Iago. He had a lot of funny moments in the animated version and played off Jafar well, but maybe no Gilbert Gottfried, no fun Iago.

Now to Will Smith as Genie. I didn’t love him, but I wasn’t overly annoyed. I saw an interview where Smith said he brought elements of his Fresh Prince character to make the Genie his own and you could tell; I wasn’t on board with that. Rest assured he was blue in the movie, but I feel he was more in “human form” to fit the updated plot of the film.

Photo: Disney

The Music

Fans of really any Disney movie knows the songs are the best part. The songs in “Aladdin” are some of my favorite period. Alan Menken returned to score and rework the original music with Howard Ashman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul joining the equation. There was one added song “Speechless” sung by Naomi Scott that I feel could have been omitted and I really did miss “Prince Ali (reprise),” sung by Jafar in the animated. They could have swapped the two, but for the songs that were in the film were good. The teases didn’t do “Prince Ali” justice. It was great in context, so was “Friend Like Me.” The tempo is a bit different and you can tell it was updated to fit the current music trends, but not obnoxious. “A Whole New World” was lackluster to me. This was a big number that earned Menken and Tim Rice an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song and this film version didn’t do it justice. The end credits version is even worst. I will never get off my soap box saying Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx should have sung it.

Photo: Disney

The Disney Feel

It’s a certain feeling I get when I watch Disney films and listen to music from the soundtracks. Right down to the opening production studio logo with the castle. I can’t really describe the feeling, but it makes me immensely happy. While I did find myself blushing at Aladdin’s infectious smile I didn’t really feel a spark between Jasmine and Aladdin. Now Mena and Naomi seem to get along well, but as an on-screen couple I didn’t get the feels. I felt this movie really lacked that Disney magic.

Overall I think this movie is truly for the new generation of Disney watchers. The ones who will think the live-action versions of these classic films are the originals. If I never saw the 1992 animated “Aladdin” maybe I would have enjoyed this movie more because I couldn’t help but to compare the two. I didn’t hate this movie, but I’m not running to go see it again either. I give “Aladdin” three Glambergirlblog kisses 💋💋💋.

Did you check out the live-action “Aladdin” film this weekend? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: Disney