I saw this movie with people who had never seen the Disney Animated movie but had read 1001 Nights. This was to see if the movie held up on its own merits, and consensus was that it did. Nonetheless it isn't any better than the cartoon.
Aladdin's moments were touching and impressive, for those who haven't seen them already. Some concessions were made for reality, as human stuntmen can be injured in ways animated people can't.
Jasmine was not as physically capable as her animated counterpart, but was stronger as narrative character, and more intelligent.
Jaffar was also given more character depth but was not as intelligent. This made him a more compelling to watch, his screw ups more logical plotting than plot convenience. But his setbacks and defeat were also less surprising, even for those hadn't seen the cartoon.
The Sultan is more mature, stately, intelligent and proactive. He still falls for some of the same ruses which made more sense for dumber Sultan, but he has more understandable motivations and takes advantage of more opportunities.
Non human, non genie characters are all greatly diminished, but not to props. They all manage to move the plot forward regardless, they just have less agency, less independence and depth.
You gain some you lose some. I hazard to say it is not any worse than the preceding cartoon, as long as you can stomach the live action CGI mixture, but it's not any better than the animated version either. The biggest difference is the genie. He's most changed character and in fact makes room a new character with no animated parallel. But if you've seen the animated movie and don't feel like seeing a different take on the genie, you're not missing too much.
Redundant But Not Bad
I saw this movie with people who had never seen the Disney Animated movie but had read 1001 Nights. This was to see if the movie held up on its own merits, and consensus was that it did. Nonetheless it isn't any better than the cartoon.
Aladdin's moments were touching and impressive, for those who haven't seen them already. Some concessions were made for reality, as human stuntmen can be injured in ways animated people can't.
Jasmine was not as physically capable as her animated counterpart, but was stronger as narrative character, and more intelligent.
Jaffar was also given more character depth but was not as intelligent. This made him a more compelling to watch, his screw ups more logical plotting than plot convenience. But his setbacks and defeat were also less surprising, even for those hadn't seen the cartoon.
The Sultan is more mature, stately, intelligent and proactive. He still falls for some of the same ruses which made more sense for dumber Sultan, but he has more understandable motivations and takes advantage of more opportunities.
Non human, non genie characters are all greatly diminished, but not to props. They all manage to move the plot forward regardless, they just have less agency, less independence and depth.
You gain some you lose some. I hazard to say it is not any worse than the preceding cartoon, as long as you can stomach the live action CGI mixture, but it's not any better than the animated version either. The biggest difference is the genie. He's most changed character and in fact makes room a new character with no animated parallel. But if you've seen the animated movie and don't feel like seeing a different take on the genie, you're not missing too much.