Will Smith was better than I thought he would be as the Genie, but I can't help but wistfully imagine how Jim Carrey's take would have been. Being an improv actor as well, he would have been my second choice for the animated Genie if for some reason, Robin Williams couldn't do it - I mean come on, his character as the Mask is a dead ringer for the Genie!
shareI would prefer Jack Black.
The original genie was fat, not full with muscles. A blue Jack Black would be great as the genie
Jack Black would have been interesting. But the improv skills and impressions I saw Jim Carrey do in The Mask...I would have loved to see what he would have incorporated into the character. I wish he would have at least been the Genie on Broadway. And that Aladdin came to Broadway in 1996, not 2014.
shareJack Black is a fat bastard and he's been phoning in his performances for a while now.
sharehe would have been perfect for the role
shareIt would've been funnier and great matches for the comedy relief.I might have prefer it.
shareHAVE YOU SEEN JIM LATELY?...HE LOOKS LIKE A METHED OUT SKELETON...THE GENIE WOULD HAVE BEEN TERRIFYING.
shareI much as I love him, I think Jim Carrey would have been a bit over the top. Robin William's talent and whackiness worked for the '92 version, but I think Disney made a wise choice by dialling it down a bit. But that's just my opinion 🙂
Before watching this, I didn't expect Will Smith to be able to pull it off. I mean, who can fill the shoes of the great late Mr William's! But I think Smith did a fantastic job!
I shared this opinion with a friend of mine, and he tends to agree with you. His reasoning was that besides the comedy aspect, Robin Williams's portrayal came across as a source of guidance for Aladdin, someone who really cared about his wellbeing. He thinks Jim Carrey would probably have come across as more like Aladdin's crazy uncle. He may have been correct.
But I'm still curious. The Mask was one of the movies I watched growing up that just really had me ROFL, so it left a huge impression on me.
I agree with your friend that Jim Carrey would've come across as Aladdin's crazy uncle! It would've been fun, yes, but not taken seriously.
Like Williams' portrayal, Smith also showed he cared for Aladdin, something that I didn't think he would pull off.
I loved The Mask too as a youngster, but I find it too over the top now as an adult 😆 But I still love Jim Carrey nonetheless!
See, I think the over the top-ness in The Mask makes sense, given the story and type of character(s) Jim Carrey portrays in it, and it's done in a way that works for me. It's more of a turn off for me when Jim Carrey goes over the top in some of his other movies, depending on which ones they are.
shareI think Carrey would've been awesome as long as he was reined in by the director for the serious scenes. Carrey has shown he can do drama quite well in movies like The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine.
I just can't take Will Smith seriously to be honest. He's not a very good actor, all I see is the Fresh Prince.
Jim Carrey can actually do serious scenes very well. I don’t remember him trying to be comical in The Majestic at all, and as you’ve mentioned he was much more serious in The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine, and his voice work as Ebenezer Scrooge was very accurate to the character. So maybe he could have given a pretty moving performance as the Genie too - at least on Broadway, and it should have been produced back in 1996 or somewhere around that, at least between Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. 2014 was way too late.