Gail K

My husband and I which are Will Smith’s age liked it . When I saw Will Smith in posters “blue”, and the silly uproar early on from fan of the animated feature negative comments about him possibly not being blue in the movie, I thought the movie would be (corney) a professional mis-step for Mr.Smith. I know that many have mentioned that Will Smith is no Robbin Williams , and to that I say, Robbin Williams as an animated voice was brilliant and as spastic as ever. However , anyone old enough to remember watching Robin Williams in the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno interviews or other talk shows knows that a little of his brand of “spastic “, comedy goes a long way with many. I don’t think even if alive , would a live -action Robin Williams’ version would work well. Even the absence of Gilbert Gottfried as “Lago”, the parrot may have been missed by some ( me included, although again too much for the live action version) , but this gave other characters a chance to be fully developed , especially the main characters . Will Smith gave us a glimpse of his Fresh Prince days ( albeit a bit older /mature version) in his comedy delivery and mannerisms , while not overshadowing the plot . I was dancing out of the theater ( with memories of gettin Jiggy wit it on my mind) ... All I needed to hear was Will Smith and DJ Khaled and my 14-year daughter was mortified and my husband surprised and pleased by my long forgotten dance moves to hip-hop that made you want to move dance too! Will Smith had a bit of trouble transitioning to the “normal” acting segments with Nasim Pedrad (Dalia character) in the film , but it didn’t take away from his performance. I’m sure this was due in part to all the energetic, emphasis and focus going to the over the top “genie” character moments , which I feel he nailed. I also thought here we go again with young no-credential actors that will act as forgettable sidekicks to Will Smith’s Character. However, the break out star was Mena Massoud (Aladdin), I want to see more of his acting, when he smiled by 20-year old inner self swooned ( yes I used the word “swooned” first time for everything) I think that everyone played their roles well and not so over the top that you felt like you were watching a stage play. Will Smith grounded the movie and brought the modern edge /swag to the movie. Oddly enough, I had hoped for more from the character of Jafar, played by Marwan Kenzari. I thought he would be the villain with the dark comedy (forgettable ), I wished the performance was more like Jermey Irons as Scar from The Lion King or Alan Rickman performance as the Sheriff from the 1991 movie Robinhood:Prince of Theives. I think perhaps in addition to a possible a mis-cast, he maybe too young too play the part and bring the complexity that was needed to make him stand out. He may have just misunderstood that playing the villain didn’t have to be delivered as deranged -petulant child. However, it was Nasim Pedrad (Dalia/handmaiden), who I kept watching ,her comedy was a great bridge between the characters. Naomi Scott (Princess Jasmine) was engaging when playing off of or performing with Mena Massoud. Navid Negahban (the sultan) performance brought the levity to the film that helped make it more cinematic and less children night -time story. Overall good performance by all.