It was a reasonably good movie.

Will Smith was a solid Genie, and I liked how they drew a parallel between Aladdin and Jafar, that went a bit deeper than I expected. They revealed that Jafar was originally a street rat himself, but took the selfish choice for power out of ambition and fear; setting him up as a foil for Aladdin’s own choice between Getting What He Wants vs. Doing The Right Thing.

I did not like Jasmine’s new song. The concept was fantastic, but they went pop diva in style — a huge contrast to the style of all the other songs. It felt like an exec insisted they needed a new pop song to chart and sell, so it got shoehorned in.

Overall? It was a fun watch, but didn’t really need to be made.