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ALADDIN ***
Dir: Guy Ritchie (12A, 120 mins)
A whole new world? Not really; more a case of Disney shamelessly remaking its back catalogue with less wit. After the poor pachyderm antics of Dumbo via Tim Burton, the sly subversion of corporate Disney aside, we now get geezer Guy Ritchie in the director’s chair and a blue, pantoworthy Will Smith. The original animated classic came out in 1992 and proved a showstopper for Robin Williams’ improvisational skills as the genie of the lamp, his voice perfectly fitting the cartoon. Those are very big pointy shoes to fill and, with the trailer featuring shot-for-shot nods to the original, creative hopes are not high for this retread. Mena Massoud is the parkour Aladdin and Naomi Scott the slightly feisty Princess Jasmine, with whom the street urchin falls in love. Marwan Kazri is the corrupt Grand Vizier Jafar who entrusts Aladdin to get the magic lamp to bring him untold power, only for the magic carpet-flying wastrel to pretend to be a prince and try to win Jasmine’s hand for himself. Too much CGI will proliferate and the songs will be odd. Anyone who has seen the original will query the Disney strategy on this and the plethora of recent remakes that seem rather inert by comparison with their cartoon forbears. Did this lamp really need another rub? Opens May 22
words Kieron Self