I love things to do with Disney, more so now that I’m older again. I think weirdly enough there is a gap between liking Disney and then stopping for a while and then liking it again. Nevertheless, as we’re counting down the day until our Disney trip, we thought it was only right to see the Aladdin movie the weekend it was released.

Aladdin was released on May 24th 2019 in Spain, so we headed to watch it on the Sunday evening. The film runs for 2 hours and 8 minutes, and through that time, I laughed a lot and cried a little. I can’t remember a time I last cried at a Disney movie! Though don’t tell Alex but I did nearly cry at End Game.

The movie itself wasn’t really reviewed as being a great movie before we went, there was a lot of sceptics about Will Smith being the genie and people who thought the casting was all wrong. Going on that alone, I’d say they were completely wrong. The casting was exceptional. Naomi Scott played a really convincing and likeable princess who saves herself, Mena Massoud was a cheeky and loveable Aladdin and Will Smith brought an iconic hip-hop twist to the genie in a way only Will Smith could.

Throughout the movie, the scenes are impressive. Bursts of colour, songs that make you want to get up and dance and it’s a whirlwind of a ride. There’s displays of magic, humour and deep emotion that really captures the audience.

When you hear that a Disney animation is going to be created for live action, many are sceptical. But I must say, the live actions that I’ve seen so far have been nothing short but incredible. Even so, that I have enjoyed some more than the original animations.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Aladdin prior to the live action movie, I knew the songs but I wasn’t particularly fond of the movie itself. It seemed to lack a certain something, and after watching the remake, I know exactly what it lacked. Depth to Jasmine’s character.

I remember being in Florida and being disappointed that the princess was Jasmine. She was… boring. She had no real value to the movie, except she needed to marry a prince and didn’t really want to. She didn’t even have a solo song.

With the arrival of a remake, Jasmine finds her voice and is gifted a solo to match. The story follows Jasmine and her lead to becoming Sultan. The Arabian tale comes with more depth and character value than the original film.

Jafar, however, was the last person for me to get on board with. Marwan Kenzari who plays Jafar didn’t seem fitting for me, at the start. I saw Aladdin and Jasmine and they were a perfect fit. Jafar, I wasn’t sure. The further on the film progressed though, that changed. I do find his character lacking that sense of fear and menace being swapped for childish and bratty. He just isn’t a scary Jafar, until the very end.

Which leaves me to The Genie. I know people absolutely loved the original Genie that Robin Williams made famous, but for me, he just didn’t do it for me. I found the original genie slightly… irritating. The genie portrayed by Will Smith has a wonderful character depth and really brings the character into his own. The Genie is the loveable best friend who breaks the rules for Aladdin and brings numerous comedic moments. He has a side story too which I really liked.

We watched Aladdin at Kinepolis in Alicante where you can watch movies in their original version with Spanish subtitles by choosing the movie that says VOS. The cinema is large and well kept with good sound and widescreen cinemas. Blockbuster movies are shown everyday including multiple VOS. Tickets are 7,95€ for adults and 6,50€ for reduced or on a Wednesday they are cheaper costing 5,60€ for everybody.

I’ll leave you with my favourite quote from the new Aladdin movie said by The Genie: “You look like a Prince on the outside, but I didn’t change anything on the inside”.

Have you seen the new Aladdin?

Hasta luego,

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