Disney’s 1992 masterpiece Aladdin, starring Robin Williams and Scott Weigner has become known as one of the best animated productions in the history of film. The story, the voice acting and the animation are top-tier and considered by many to be one of Disney’s best films. Very few would expect that director, Guy Ritchie, could effectively recreate the classic and there was certainly some struggle to produce a film that compared to the original. There were minor changes that Ritchie made that affected the entire tone of the film. Aladdin (Mena Massoud), early in the film, wishes to have the Genie (Will Smith) remove them from the cave. While this makes sense, this is very different from the original. This choice is a huge plot hole as the conversation between the two ends up not making any sense as a result of Aladdin’s first wish not being considered a wish at all (effectively giving him four wishes instead of three). Filling the roles of such iconic characters would have certainly been a tall task for casting director Salah Benchegra and it is not clear that he chose the best actors for each of the main characters. Benchegra’s choices for Aladdin and Jasmine (Naomi Scott) were wonderful. He chose these two relatively unknown actors to portray two Disney favorites and those choices paid off. The two had incredible chemistry, great talent and nearly perfect singing voices. Their rendition of the classic “A Whole New World” literally gave me chills and it is safe to say that no one has ever performed that song as well as Massoud and Scott did in this film. Other than these two, it seemed that the casting fell short of hopes that audiences may have had. Will Smith (Genie), Marwan Kenzari (Jafar) and Alan Tudyk (Iago) paled in comparison to the original characters. Surely very few expected that Smith would provide as great of a performance as Robin Williams in the 1990’s, but Smith’s Genie came off as very feminine and lacked the intensity that Williams provided years ago. The role did not call for a character choice like this and, in many ways, diminished a very positive view of the all-powerful entity that guides Aladdin through a journey of love and war. It seems that many felt that with Smith’s background in the music industry he would have flourished in scenes that required him to sing. However, his background as a hip-hop artist did not lend itself to him being a quality singer. His voice often fell flat and he lacked the talent to deliver vocally throughout the entire film. Smith, in general, is one of the more talented actors of this generation, but it seems that this role was not in his wheelhouse of capabilities. Gilbert Gottfried was a shining star in the original film, making it incredibly difficult for Tudyk to follow in his footsteps. While Tudyk is a highly talented voice actor, and he did a great job of portraying Iago, Gottfried’s voice is truly missed in this film. Jafar is the imposing and creepy villain in Aladdin and Jasmine’s story. He should present himself in a strong and domineering fashion causing audiences to shiver at the thought, and sight, of him. The choice to cast Kenzari as the protagonist in this film was nothing short of a failure. He clearly possesses great talent but it is safe to say that, like Smith, this was not the right person for the part. Kenzari is much younger than most would expect for an actor portraying Jafar and his voice was completely wrong for the part. Johnathan Freeman’s (the voice actor of Jafar in the 1992 original) voice was strong, expressive and scary and yet Benchegra chose an actor whose voice did not meet the expectations of this character. Ritchie chose to speed things up in the beginning of the film. It seemed that he hurried the beginning of Aladdin and Jasmine’s story as to quickly get audiences interested in their story. Their initial meeting is one of great importance and Ritchie made sure to introduce them much earlier in this film than in the original. This ultimately seemed to be a good choice as it gave the characters more time to develop around one another and help audiences become more invested in these characters and their relationship. Many of the choices made in this film could have been detrimental to the overall project, however, it seems that the choice to help develop Aladdin and Jasmine’s story slightly different than in the original, as well as the impeccable acting by Scott and Massoud (and their singing abilities), ultimately made the film enjoyable. While it does not compare to the original, it was successful in presenting the story of Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie to a new generation of Disney fans. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6139732/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
