Aladdin (2019) Review

Aladdin was my favorite movie when I was four years old. I had all the toys, I knew all the lines, and of course all the songs. I even had a real life blue carpet (sadly not a magical one) which I would use to reenact the Cave of Wonders sequence. So, naturally, I had really high expectations of this movie. Of course, I had to manage those expectations after the first teaser trailer was released. After all the great movies that have been released this year so far, I wasn’t too excited for this live action remake of one of our childhood favorites, but I still had to see it on the big screen, obviously.

I have to say that, for the most part, I enjoyed it immensely. It’s mostly a fun family movie. The musical numbers are good. I do like Will Smith as Genie (even in his blue form). Naomi Scott is a great Jasmine. Aladdin is fine. Jafar… is almost ok, but I knew from the trailers that he was a miscast, so I had to just accept it and luckily it didn’t ruin my experience.

However, I do feel bit disappointed. I feel that my two favorite sequences were missing something. I’m referring to the Cave of Wonders and the final confrontation with Jafar.

I just wish it had been a bit more wonderful. I’m thinking it has something to do with the color palette, or the tone, or maybe the production design, I’m still not sure. I might have to watch it again.