Film pundits are weighing in on Disney's live-action "Aladdin" ahead of its May 24 release date.

The film starring Mena Massoud as the street thief title character and Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine has taken some lumps, notably a highly-criticized initial reveal of Will Smith's blue Genie.

However, most of the social media comments for the complete musical have been positive — including for Smith in his full-movie glory. This enthusiasm has been echo-ed in full reviews which have been dropping Wednesday.

"Aladdin" currently holds a "fresh" 63% positive review score on aggregate site RottenTomatoes, with 54 reviews tallied.

Slashfilm editor Peter Sciretta‏ tweeted that "Aladdin is better than expected. Not the complete disaster critics were expecting, but also not a home run."

Sciretta had praise for Scott's Jasmine, calling the film "surprisingly fun."

USA TODAY's Carly Mallenbaum was wowed to the point of alliteration by the "Aladdin" world premiere, calling it "shining, shimmering, splendid!"

"The film is way funny, colorful and grand," she tweeted. "A joyful ride, indeed."

USA TODAY's reviewer Brian Truitt gave "Aladdin" a solid review (★★★ out of four stars) noting the movie "razzles and dazzles with huge dance sequences and impressive production design" and calling it a "cool and nostalgic magic carpet ride."

Truitt had praise for Smith's Genie, calling it "Big Willie Style on full blast, rapping and riding ostriches. His character flips between regular human and mystical dude throughout the film." But he notes Genie's "CGI self is distracting at times. (It proves that just because you can turn a famous actor blue doesn’t mean you should.)"

Film reviewer Kristen Lopez tweeted that the film "isn't terrible" calling it "beautiful" —while pointing out that "Massoud and Scott are solid." Lopez had special praise for evil Jafar, played by Marwan Kenzari, "who says every line like its dirty and I was here for it!"

Entertainment reporter Germain Lussier, a fan of the 1992 animated version with Robin Williams voicing Genie, tweeted that he fell into nostalgic tears as soon as the live-action film started.

"The remake plays to that nostalgia beautifully. It improves on the original in some ways (and) is inferior in others," he wrote. "But as a long-time fan, I truly enjoyed it. It made me feel like a kid again."

Screenrant editor Alex Leadbeater gave the lead actors props while giving the film faint praise.

"Surprise, #Aladdin is fairly good. Mainly because it nails the characters," he tweeted. "Massoud/Scott's chemistry is top, Smith's cocky/emotional sides make Genie mostly fresh."

Leadbetter added that the scenes where Aladdin courts Princess Jasmine with Genie's assistance "are clearly the best part."

More:'Aladdin': Will Smith calls the shifting backlash over his blue genie 'very funny'

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Listen to this week's episode of USA TODAY's podcast, The Mothership, to hear about upcoming Disney live-action remakes and whether they do more harm than good.

Film critic Hanna Ines Flint tweeted that she saw the film twice. She had issues with Ritchie's directing but liked the overall product "a lot."

"The issues really are technical and I noticed them more this time," Flint wrote after her second viewing. "Too many cuts and bad framing. So I stand by (the statement) that Guy Ritchie should not have directed this."

London-based writer Andrew Gaudion did not think much of action director Ritchie's "grasp on musical sequences, but otherwise I found #Aladdin to be quite funny, rather sweet and charmingly earnest."

London entertainment reporter Hannah Wales tweeted that she was "pleasantly surprised" by the film.

"I had the lowest of expectations going into #Aladdin but you know what? I actually quite liked it! It's not perfect by any means," Wales wrote.