![]() His scenes with Massoud have a scrappy charge that lift the mood when the plot mechanics get heavy. ![]() Putting his own spin on Genie’s big song, “Friend Like Me,” Smith is a comic blast. Will Smith CRUSHES IT as the genie and is a superb lead. He brings a Fresh Prince sass to the role and wisely never tries to imitate the inimitable Williams. The new live-action Aladdin movie is packed with colorful visuals and is a real treat to watch. Smith, however is the movie’s best special effect. And Ritchie pulls out all the stops in “Prince Ali,” a circus-like production number. For starters, Aladdin wishes to be a prince worthy of wooing Jasmine. Genie has only three wishes to grant, and you can’t wish for more wishes. Smith plays him human-sized and later as the CG-enhanced marvel that pops out of a lamp when Aladdin gives it a rub. How do these two opposites come together? The Genie, of course. She even gets a new song, “Speechless,” with lyrics from La La Land Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. She no longer dreams only of love she’d like to succeed her father the sultan (Navid Negahban) and make decisions for her country. You won’t recognize Jasmine from her cartoon origins. Opening Aladdin is a new version of 'Arabian Nights' sung by Will Smith. Aladdin does have a problem: He yearns for Jasmine, a princess far beyond his pay grade. His “One Jump Ahead” has a swirling energy you won’t find in the musical version currently on Broadway. Massoud, so good on TV’s Jack Ryan, is a live-wire as Aladdin, who swings through the streets of Agrabah like an acrobat while singing the Alan Menken/Howard Ashman-Tim Rice score. That’s mostly a losing battle, but the impulse is solid. But he does give the story a kineticism that helps when you’re trying to match what animation can do. Will Smith gives a fun performance as the Genie in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, but only when he steps out of the shadow of Robin Williams.The announcement of Smith’s casting in Guy Ritchie’s take on one of Disney’s most popular films came in a wave of skepticism, both for the choice of Smith and for the mere existence of the remake in the first place. Ritchie, best known for action pulverizers like RocknRolla and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, doesn’t pull out the heavy ammo in this family-friendly, PG enterprise. That the movie itself is a treat, beyond its good intentions, is icing on the cake, though clichés and ethnic stereotyping still sneak in. An Arabian nights fantasy filled with brown-skinned actors? Will wonders never cease? And Marwan Kenzari, as villainous Jafar, is partly Tunisian. Nasim Pedrad, as her handmaiden, Dalia, was born in Iran. Naomi Scott, who plays Princess Jasmine, is of Indian descent. 225 Play trailer 0:46 96 Videos 99+ Photos Adventure Comedy Family A kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true. A kindhearted street urchin named Aladdin embarks on a magical adventure after finding a lamp that releases a wisecracking genie while a power-hungry Grand Vizier vies for the same lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true. Mena Massoud who plays Aladdin, has roots in Egypt. ‘Aladdin’: Will Smith Is the Live-Action Movie’s Best Special Effect Guy Ritchie's family-friendly, CG-enhanced live-action version of Disney’s animated hit surprises in all the right ways. That’s Will Smith as the Genie, embodying the character Robin Williams brought to hilarious vocal life in 1992 and doing the role proud. It’s an inspired choice to cast Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of Disney’s 1992 animated hit with persons of color. The bar for Genie is set high that if the role requires a new actor, viewers will insist that a suitable replacement will be found.Did Aladdin just get woke? Looks like it. It’s also fully possible that Smith will step down from the role voluntarily. Financial analysis of Aladdin (2019) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. Smith is proceeding with caution, having issued multiple public apologies, leaving for some the benefit of the doubt that his behavior could have been a one-time occurrence - for others, Smith wasn’t reprimanded enough. As the production of Aladdin 2 becomes more of a reality, Disney will likely weigh its options as it decides on the status of the role, until then, a lot could happen. While Smith’s Genie performance was praised as being refreshingly set apart from Williams', there’s no guarantee that it’s enough to secure his tenure. Williams would return for Aladdin and the King of Thieves after being issued an apology by Disney, but would once again be recast with Smith for the live-action adaptation. After being made iconic by the late Robin Williams, the character was recast for The Return of Jafar following conflicts with the comedian over using his portrayal in commercials and to sell toys. ![]() Recasting Aladdin’s Genie wouldn’t be unprecedented.
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