Review: 'Aladdin' remake serviceable, but unnecessary

“Aladdin,” Disney’s latest live-action remake of one of its animation classics is good, if completely unnecessary. It does very little to distinguish itself from the 1992 film that gifted the world with Robin Williams’ Genie, one of the all-time great voice-acting performances.

The Genie was written with Williams in mind. The character was perfectly matched to the late actor’s manic energy and ability to do a seemingly endless number of voices. He was given free-rein to improvise the vast majority of his dialogue. So much about why “Aladdin” worked was Williams’ performance and that’s the biggest hurdle for this new incarnation.