Aladdin: Does the Live-Action Remake Stand the Test of Time?

The latest trend from coming out of the House of Mouse is their apparent love affair of live-action remakes of classic animated films. It started back in 1994 with the release of The Jungle Book but hit it’s stride with the release of 2010’s Alice in Wonderland up to their recent release of Aladdin. Finally, CGI and technology had caught up with the film industry and putting actors in with our favorite animated characters made the story more believable.

With it’s May 24th release, all eyes were on Disney with their debut of the live-action version of Aladdin starring Will Smith as Genie, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, and Mena Massoud in the lead role as Aladdin. Despite its predecessors before it, Aladdin had an uphill battle ahead of it to win over the hearts of fans. Not only will it have to pay homage to the original film, but it also had to hold a candle to the late Robin Williams energy and excitement brought to the original.

All around the movie did it’s part to bring the characters to life in a way that both lived up to the original as well as ushered in the story for a younger audience. Smith’s Genie was witty, clever and fun. Massoud’s Aladdin was a spitting image of the classic title character from the animated version. It was Naomi Scott as Jasmine that stood out in this iteration that changed from the character from 1992. Jasmine’s role in the 2019 version of Aladdin was much larger than a princess waiting to be wed. In 27 years since the original, it would make more sense to alter the story to fit a more modern interpretation. Even a few songs were added to bring Jasmine to the forefront of the film.

The hardest part to accept was when comparing it to the original. The actors did their part to bring the characters to a more modern storytelling but wiping the original from memory proved a tiresome task. There were parts of the film where the songs didn’t have the energy and fun of the originals. The brief pauses or more spoken word than singing at times kept the emotion of the film in check. Aladdin with Robin Williams and all his antics combined with the excitement and delivery of the sing-along songs really put it on the map. The live-action remake echoed this in some scenes but missed its mark on others. Disney’s live-action Aladdin is might be a cute film for a daddy/daughter date type situation but to bring the whole family out to see might not leave you feeling you got your money’s worth, even though it passed the original at the box office. There’s nothing terrible about the movie, but there’s nothing that makes it stand out as well.