Disney’s Aladdin Launches With Very Positive Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes

It looks like Disney’s Aladdin is going to be the next big film to create a massive gap in opinion between fans and critics. Aladdin is sitting on some pretty mixed critical reviews, while the audiences reactions are proving to be overwhelmingly positive.

At the time of writing this, Aladdin has a 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes – compare that with a 91% audience score, which arguably could go higher (or lower) as Memorial Day Weekend unfolds.

A quick look on Twitter tells the story of why audiences are reacting so well to Aladdin: it’s fun, and seems to inspire a lot Disney nostalgia in fans who grew up with the animated film:

Whereas a lot of critics have been somewhat harsh of director Guy Ritchie’s production, the new soundtrack, and casting of Will Smith as genie (“Disney needs three wishes for its live-action “Aladdin” remake: for a better Genie, a better script and a soul.” – Salon.com), audiences seem to be very entertained by all of the above:

Aladdin’s leading couple, (Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott) are also impressing audiences – with Scott, in particular seeming to score a major breakout with her upgraded story arc as Princess Jasmine:

These types of “critics vs fans” debates have been growing as blockbuster movies become camps of warring fandoms – be fandoms of competing franchises, or fandoms of different generations, debating a movie that was made, then remade. Either way, those kinds of divisive stances on movies has naturally led to equal amounts of divisiveness between those who review movies and those who see them for enjoyment.

What’s really intriguing in all this is what these types of critics vs. audiences clashes say about aggregate sites themselves. The entire point of a Rotten Tomatoes is provide viewers with an easy consensus of critical opinion, with the caveat of also presenting a nice range of opinion to form that average. But if fans see all of that range of opinion and form the attitude that it’s all irrelevant – then has aggregate reviewing really done more harm than good for critics and the industry?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel are now in theaters. Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters on July 2nd. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 is slated for release in 2021.