A Whole New World: My thoughts on Aladdin (live action)

Courtesy of RogerEbert.com

When Aladdin first came to theaters in 1992, I went to see it a few times. I loved it more and more each time I saw it.  I even choreographed a dance routine to "A Whole New World" during my junior year of high school. Over the years, I saw Aladdin many more times and eventually showed it to my kids. So I was excited to see the live action version when it arrived in theaters this weekend. There had been both good and bad reviews out there, so I didn't go in with high expectations. However, I ended up enjoying it a lot!

I didn't really know any of the actors other than Will Smith. I found out later that Alan Tudyk (King Candy, Hei Hei, Wash from Firefly, etc.) did the voice of Iago. I also didn't realize that Billy Magnussen was going to be in it, but his character seemed rather silly. Initially, I was skeptical about Will Smith playing the genie, but I felt he did a really good job in the role. He changed the rhythm of the songs a bit and it reminded me of when he was the Fresh Prince. He seemed to have fun playing such a monumental part, especially having to fill Robin Williams' shoes. He added his own style of humor and some sentimentality and it all just worked really well. I like that he was on screen more often as Aladdin's "sidekick" and he even had his own romantic side story. I like the way he was animated at certain points.

Aladdin was played by Mena Massoud, whom I instantly found attractive (he had a lot to measure up against since Aladdin was my first cartoon crush). He reminded me of Noah Centineo in the way he talked and smiled. I wouldn't say he had the best singing voice, but it held up fine.

Jasmine was played by Naomi Scott, whom I thought did a great job in this role. She was pretty, had a nice singing voice, and her character got more of a feminist angle than in the original. She performed a new song called "Speechless," which was written by Pasek and Paul (the duo behind Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman.) It was a good song, but I didn't think it needed to be broken into two parts. The first part should have been the main song and the second part should have been a shorter reprise. Or they should have just kept it as one song toward the end. There's one line she says to Hakim closer to the end that I felt could apply to a current situation. That's all I'll say for now though....

Marwan Kenzari played Jafar. He didn't have the same commanding presence as his animated predecessor, but he was still evil and sinister in his own ways. I hope that when they do a live action version of The Little Mermaid, they give Ursula more personality than they gave Jafar. The one letdown was Iago. They should have kept Gilbert Gottfried in the role with his classic lines. This new Iago was just a typical parrot.

Abu was super cute. I was surprised they didn't keep him as an elephant after Prince Ali, but maybe it didn't work well on that set. I like him better as a monkey anyway, and that worked better for him in some parts.

I liked the special effects a lot, especially the flying carpet during A Whole New World. The scenery and costumes were great too. They added new elements I liked that weren't in the original version, but also took some things out, such as all the Disney Easter eggs and some good lines (such as "Jafar, Jafar, he's our man. If he can't do it, GREAT!") Some parts felt a bit chaotic with too many people in one scene. I found myself laughing a lot, but I didn't cry. I felt some warm fuzzies at the end, but that was about it. I like that the lead characters actually did their own singing, unlike in the original when Brad Kane and Lea Salonga took over....not that I minded their voices). My husband mentioned several times that some parts felt sped up, like the dance scenes, and that didn't work for him. I didn't feel too strongly about it either way, as the movie was already longer than the original. I was just annoyed that we waited until after the credits to see if they'd do something else (like when the genie lifted the credits screen), but there was nothing.

Overall, it was an enjoyable two hours of music, magic, and entertainment. My husband wasn't as into it as I was, but my kids really liked it. I can't wait to see what the live action version of The Lion King will be like.