Aladdin (2019) – One Jump Ahead Is Right!

Seeing the previews for Aladdin had me fretful, to say the least. The original Aladdin was amazing, but I honestly can’t say that it’s one of my favorites. However, it’s a classic all the same. My faith in live-action Disney movies had me second-guessing this one though. I’ve seen about three so far – The Jungle Book (which I loved), Beauty and the Beast (fell asleep on that one), and The Lion King (you all already know how I feel about that one). I wasn’t interested at all, especially when they showed a still image of Will Smith’s version of The Genie. Then they showed a clip of the song “Friend Like Me” and that’s what got me excited. I had to check it out, so I did just that and I’m ready to give my review.

Going into this after watching The Lion King, I knew there would be differences between this version and the animated version. Here’s where things change. The differences for the live-action version of Aladdin worked for the story. There were a few things I wasn’t happy with, but that’s to be expected. Jafar doesn’t trick Aladdin by disguising himself as an old man nor does he turn into a snake at the end during the final battle, but everything else is great. I like how One Jump Ahead is included with him on the run with Jasmine. Genie having a love interest was something that I felt was a great addition to the story, though it does make you wonder a few things. Jasmine wanting to be the Sultan instead of just wanting to have certain rights was also something I can see happening in “modern” times and the result was satisfying for sure. I didn’t mind any of the additions to the film, and the things taken away, though disappointing, didn’t take away from the quality of the movie for me.

You know what they did wonderfully in this film? The songs. Every song in this movie was great, and I may be in the minority, but I like some of the songs better than the animated versions. One Jump Ahead, as I mentioned before, I liked that Jasmine was along for the run and that’s how she got introduced to Aladdin. Friend Like Me, slaps to the max! My favorite song of the movie by far, and for those who haven’t seen the movie, you’ll love the reprise of it at the end. Prince Ali, another great song in the movie. It was good to see Will Smith doing his thing as the Genie and not have to get creeped out by the effects team adding breasts to Genie when he dressed as a woman as they did in the animated version. A Whole New World – it was good, but to me, it sounded like they were just lip-syncing to the original song, they didn’t sound like they did in any of the other songs, but that’s just me. Jasmine’s new song, Speechless – good, great, awesome, outstanding, and amazing! It worked perfectly for the movie. It wasn’t just in there to be in there and that’s why I enjoyed it. It progressed the story how it needed to. I guess I just feel this film’s version of the songs are so much more lively and that’s why I have such high opinions of them.

A majority of the cast did a wonderful job. Mena Massoud was outstanding as Aladdin. I saw everybody and their mama complaining about Aladdin being played by a white actor…which he’s clearly not. Naomi Scott did a wonderful job as Jasmine. She embodied the princess’s personality and attitude amazingly and I have no complaints. Plus she has some pipes on her! Will Smith was just…wow. He killed the role of the Genie in my eyes. I was skeptical as can be when they first announced it, but I’m so glad they went with that casting choice. He had some big shoes to fill, and he filled them the best way he could. I don’t feel as if I can say he’s better than Robin Williams’s Genie because they’re not the same character. While Williams’s Genie was more for comedic fulfillment, Smith’s Genie was more serious than comedic and down to Earth, and once again, it worked perfectly for the movie. Will Smith is also the main reason why I love this version of Friend Like Me so much, he destroyed that part of the film. Marwan Kenzari did the best that he could with Jafar in the film. Unfortunately, Jafar wasn’t written very well in this version, and it shows. He’s a very one-dimensional villain, and although they attempted to dive into his backstory, you never get a true sense of why he’s the way he is. Nasim Pedrad was a new character named Dalia, Genie’s love interest, and she was great! She flowed with the movie and didn’t make you wonder why they decided to add her.

I honestly don’t have many complaints about the film. It’s not perfect, sure, but it’s a solid film with an amazing soundtrack to boot. It does end the same way as the original, and I do wonder how they’re going to do the sequel – talks are being had about it. I mean with Genie supposedly being human now, what’s going to happen in the second movie? I guess that would be explained, but that’s something I wasn’t too happy with. It ends as if a sequel isn’t needed. If they end up doing the sequel, I pray it’s on this same level and doesn’t ruin the quality like the animated sequel did. Aside from the blandness of Jafar and the unfortunate decision not to have him turn into a giant snake during the final battle, I was quite happy.