Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I went into this movie with mediocre expectations. It's hard to bring an animated staple of my youth to life in a live action representation. I was prepared to be forgiving, if it didn't live up to the original film, because there are certainly a lot of challenges to make something like this work. I did however, expect Disney to put their best foot forward and create a nostalgic experience for the die hard fans, as well as an entertaining and well made remake for new viewers experiencing this story for the first time. Sadly, I was sorely disappointed, even with my low expectations. The production was sloppy, the direction was horrible, and I can't even begin to understand what they were thinking when they cast this thing. I liked the idea of Will Smith as the genie, in concept. But, in practice, it was just BAD. Every actor in this movie was horrible. The dialogue, the acrobatics, and sadly, the Genie. I respect Will Smith tremendously as an actor, but this was just sad. I can only assume that the blame for his lack of character falls upon the director and producers. The reason for the animated films success, lies in the fact that Robin Williams was given a great deal of room to bring his personality to the Genie. Instead of trying to cut and paste Robin's rendition of the Genie into the movie via Will Smith, I would have been more pleased to see Will bring more of his own magic to the character. At first glance, the set design seems to be above par, as well as the wardrobe, But if you're watching closely, it's easy to see where the set designers cut corners. In fact, there only seem to be a few sets in the entire production that weren't completely green screened. Even the CG was substandard, which should have fallen within Disney's wheelhouse. While this reboot may be a good distraction for your toddlers, with all it's pretty light shows and colorful outfits, it lacks the heart of the original. I doubt that you or your children will look back fondly on this adaptation in 25 years the way that most of us do for the original.