Aladdin (2019)

Casting anyone as the Genie after Robin Williams was always going to be a losing battle. That's not a dig at whoever steps into the role, it's just the truth. Williams wasn't performing in that 1992 film, he was channelling something wild and unpredictable and genuinely alive. A whirlwind of impressions, a soul-stirring gear-shift from comedy to warmth, pure manic genius poured into a blue lamp. You can't just recast that. You can barely even replicate it.

Will Smith knows this, I suspect. He doesn't try to do a Williams impression, and fair play to him for that. He brings his own thing: that trademark smirk, a modern laid-back cool, a few solid laughs. He's not bad, exactly. But he is, inescapably, Will Smith playing Will Smith. The spark isn't there. The unpredictability isn't there. And no amount of blue paint can fill that void. I've seen Smith carry films on charm alone before, and I've also seen him badly miscast, as I wrote about in my review of Suicide Squad (2016). This sits somewhere in the uncomfortable middle.

The rest of the film follows what's now the very familiar Disney live-action playbook. Step-by-step recreations of the animated classic, glossy CGI where hand-drawn charm used to be, and a handful of awkward attempts to "update" the story without actually changing much at all. Mena Massoud is likeable enough as Aladdin. Naomi Scott sings well as Jasmine. But the chemistry between them is thin and the romance feels rushed, ticked off like an item on a checklist rather than something the film actually earns.

The expanded storyline for Jasmine, giving her political ambitions beyond the palace walls, is well-intentioned. I genuinely wanted to like it. But it's tacked on rather than woven into the fabric of the story. It arrives, makes its point, and then the film moves on as if nothing happened. That's the problem with so much of what's here: it has the right instincts but none of the follow-through.

Visually it's clean and bright and thoroughly soulless. The magic carpet still has a bit of charm. The songs are competently performed. "Prince Ali" is a lively set piece, and for a few minutes the film almost remembers what fun feels like. But it's all so safe, so calculated, so utterly devoid of spontaneity. The sense of wonder that made the original sing has been polished right out of existence in the name of making something that looks expensive and tests well with focus groups.

This isn't a disaster. It's not offensive. It's not the kind of trainwreck you can at least get some entertainment out of picking apart. It's just hollow. Technically fine, emotionally flat, another lifeless echo of something that once genuinely sparkled. They kept the tunes and the plot and the costumes and the cave of wonders, and somehow managed to leave the actual magic on the cutting room floor.

Two and a half stars. It'll do as background viewing on a Sunday afternoon, and your kids will probably enjoy it well enough. Just don't expect it to make you feel anything. The original still exists. Watch that instead.

Rating: ★★½  | Year: 2019  | Watched: 2025-08-06

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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