Aladdin REVIEWS: What critics say about Will Smith, Naomi Scott and Mena Massoud remake

The movie is the latest in a long line of Disney live-action retellings, and comes just two months after Dumbo. It’s also less than two months ahead of The Lion King. And after initial trailers did little for the movie’s hype, how good is the end product? The verdicts are in.

Aladdin reviews have been mostly positive so far.

The Guardian gave a four-star verdict, saying it “really takes flight”.

The newspaper argued: “It still holds up as a tale whose central couple’s deceptions and entrapments and self-discoveries have a pleasing symmetry to them, and whose ‘it’s what’s inside that counts’ morals are in the right place.

“That’s really all anyone wanted out of a new Aladdin: not a whole new world, just a slightly updated old one.”

Empire gave three stars, arguing that Will Smith’s Genie is a real weak link when in blue, CGI form.

They said: “Another lavish and largely entertaining Disney re-do, with strong turns from [Mena] Massoud and [Naomi] Scott.

“But, appropriately for someone playing a huge, powerful entity trapped in a tiny ornament, Smith’s genie performance feels disappointingly constrained — both by overdependance on the original and some ghastly CGI.”

The Independent gave four stars, summarising: “What could have been a cynical exercise in repackaging an old hit turns out to be an invigorating ride.”

Digital Spy awarded three stars, criticising Jafar and giving mixed feedback to the new developments for Princess Jasmine.

“Jasmine’s new song ‘Speechless’ doesn’t quite reach the heights of the classic Aladdin tunes, but it’s a stirring performance that complements her expanded arc of wanting to be the leader,” they said.

“Ritchie has also given more for Jafar to do, and Marwan Kenzari just isn’t up to the task.”

The Telegraph gave three stars, saying it “tries very hard – but doesn’t quite succeed – in improving on the studio’s 1992 original.”

Little White Lies were a little colder, saying the film has “three lively leads, but [is] just creatively bankrupt on so many other levels.”

World of Celebrity gave three stars, reasoning: “In general, the film is wildly inconsistent and riddled with technical issues – from some messy CGI in places to some jarring sped-up action – but considering I thought it was going to be rubbish I’m pleased to report I liked it a lot.”

The film’s Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores should be issued later today.

Aladdin is out now.