Aladdin (PG)***
Dir: Guy Ritchie
With: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott
Runtime: 128 minutes
IF a blue genie emerged from a magic lamp and granted me three wishes, I'd contemplate using the first to overhaul the unconvincing digital trickery in Guy Ritchie's musical fantasy, a live-action remake of the Oscar-winning 1992 Disney animation.
Fantasy and reality are at loggerheads throughout Aladdin, never more so than in Will Smith's motion-captured performance as the wise-cracking inhabitant of the lamp. Materialising as an oversized Smurf with an angry man-bun, the Fresh Prince feels stale and synthetic as he attempts to replicate the quickfire verbal gymnastics performed by Robin Williams in the original film.
The unlikely hero is street urchin Aladdin (Mena Massoud), who falls hopelessly in love with Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott).
The 2019 Aladdin wisely pilfers the toe-tapping soundtrack from the 1992 film, while the Oscar-winning duo responsible for The Greatest Showman provide empowering lyrics for Jasmine's MeToo-era anthem Speechless, delivered with gusto by Scott.
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