People are divided over Will Smith's performance of 'Prince Ali' in Aladdin

15 May 2019, 15:40

"How could they make Prince Ali so BORING :( It’s one of the best musical numbers in any Disney movie..."

From the day it was announced, Guy Ritchie's live-action Aladdin remake has been plagued with negative comments. From the casting decisions, to the trailer and the big reveal of Will Smith's Genie, the 2019 film really hasn't been able to catch a break.

Aladdin, starring Mena Masood, Naomi Scott and Will Smith, is set to be released on May 24 and it's still getting backlash online.

The first look at Disney's live-action Aladdin is here and the memes are savage

Thanks to a one minute clip that's just been released of the legendary Will Smith performing one of the film's biggest and boldest songs, 'Prince Ali', Twitter is absolutely losing it - and not in a good way. People are complaining that the musical sequence is "boring" and lacks the energy and personality of the original cartoon version.

In case you're not familiar with Aladdin (and if you're not, you are a disgrace), 'Prince Ali' is the song that the Genie sings during Prince Ali Ababwa's entrance parade to Agrabah. Genie is essentially acting as Prince Ali's hype man, convincing the crowds that he is a rich Prince and not the infamous street rat with a pet monkey who steals bread from the market. He's wooing the crowd, hyping the gals, he's getting the kids excited... it's one of the best sequences in the film.

In the original, Robin Williams delivers an iconic performance, chucking out several different voices and radiating chaotic energy through his vocals alone.

To be honest, it's completely unfair to compare Will's performance to Robin's because this is a live-action film. It's a completely different ball game. The vibe of the original is much easier to translate through animation than it is in real life with real humans, but regardless of that fact, the complete and utter lack of energy coupled with the slow-paced editing has caused a huge wave of backlash from fans online.

Some people were really not here for it, expressing how disappointing the entire thing looked.

Some people thought the opposite, giving props to Will's performance and saying they're still gonna see the movie anyway.

Others just said the clip really reminded them of how great Robin Williams' talent really was.

If you were feeling a little disappointed with the lacklustre clip, do yourself and a favour and rewatch it at 1.25x speed. It works.