Released: July 2019
Director: Jon Favreau
Rated PG
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Distributor: Disney
Genre: Adventure/Animation
Cast:
Donald Glover: Simba
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Scar
Beyonce Knowles-Carter: Nala
James Earl Jones: Mufasa
Alfre Woodard: Sarabi
John Oliver: Zazu
Seth Rogan: Pumbaa
Billy Eichner: Timon
John Kani: Rafiki
There was once a time when Walt Disney Studios was the undisputed king of family entertainment. Throughout the past century, with films like Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Fox and the Hound, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, you could always count on Disney to deliver something that was worth taking the entire family to go see. While the animation styles had changed and improved over the decades, the high quality of the stories that Disney told were fairly consistent. Myself, I grew up with Disney’s animated features and while I stepped away from Disney for a while, I find that their animated films are absolutely amazing. I grew up with Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid, the one film that I really loved was The Lion King. Disney had perfected the idea of talking animals with absolutely incredible hand-drawn animation and combined it with state-of-the-art CGI, culminating in one of the greatest animated stories ever released. Sadly, we’ve been seeing Disney go back and try to “update” their older films with modern technology and techniques. Disney’s modern remakes of their classic animated films have been mostly a mixed bag. We’ve had a couple of good ones with Beauty and the Beast and Maleficent, but movies like Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Dumbo are proving that while these films are profitable, Disney is bankrupt when it comes to originality. Sadly, the highly anticipated Lion King remake is yet another example of Disney not putting forward enough effort to differentiate the new film from the original.
The Lion King tells the story of Simba, a young lion that is next in line to become the king of the Pride Lands. In the shadows lurks his uncle, Scar, as he schemes to usurp the throne for himself by ridding himself of Simba and his father, Mufasa. If you’ve seen the original film, you already know how this goes. That’s not to say that it’s a bad story. Far from it. It’s a grand and epic story that is literally Shakespearian in nature. It is Hamlet in animal form. It works quite well, even though it has a far lighter tone than the original story. It’s a story that still works, even in the new Lion King film, although it really does nothing to shake it up even a little bit. It is very much, beat for beat, the exact same movie that came out 25 years ago, just with new animation technology. That’s part of what my problem with the film is, is that it plays it far too safe. Granted, it’s supposed to be a family film, but even those films need to be shaken up a little bit. The whole thing was very predictable from beginning to end. The worst part about how the story was handled here was there were certain sequences and moments that were taken out. For example, there was a moment when the baboon, Rafiki, whacks adult Simba on the head. It was a funny moment, but it was also a very poignant one about learning from one’s past and not running from it. It’s a powerful lesson that doesn’t make it’s way into the new film. Disney’s animated films, while primarily entertaining, also provided children with important lessons that could be used later in life. We really get none of those in this version. It’s weird: The Lion King cuts out some important moments and yet the film is longer.
The voice acting in the new film is very, very strong. We’ve got amazing actors like Donald Glover, who plays the adult Simba, and he’s absolutely fantastic. Beyonce plays adult Nala and I don’t think that she has the range of the original actress, but she doesn’t do a bad job. Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner voice Pumbaa and Timon, respectively. I’m not the biggest fan of Seth Rogan, but I actually kind of liked what he brought to the role. He’s no Ernie Sabella, but he definitely makes the role his own. The biggest piece of casting when the film was announced, was the return of James Earl Jones as Mufasa, and let me tell you: He doesn’t disappoint. He IS Mufasa, and recasting the character would have been a huge mistake. Unfortunately, there were some casting decisions that sounded good on paper, but didn’t pan out very well. First one is John Oliver as Zazu. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Oliver’s stand-up comedy. His wit and timing are impeccable, but his turn as Mufasa’s majordomo didn’t work for me, at least, not as well as when Rowan Atkinson did it back in the day. The other one and this one hurts the most, because I’m a huge fan of this actor. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Scar in this film, as opposed to Jeremy Irons who voiced the character in the original picture. I don’t necessarily think that Chiwetel did a terrible job, but he was severely miscast. He doesn’t bring the same kind of raspy menace that Irons did, and as a result, the character comes across as much less threatening. Scar is one of the most iconic villains in Disney’s line-up, but he was not handled well here.
When it was announced that the new Lion King film would be a live-action remake, a lot of people were questioning how they would do it. You know what happened? They animated it. Yeah, the animals are all CGI. There was absolutely no way that it was going to be live-action. Granted, a lot of the shots and visuals are spectacular as they use actual backgrounds from Africa, so there is an element of truth to the claim, but the animals are all animated. Don’t get me wrong, they look fantastic. The detail is extraordinary. You can literally spot individual hairs on the hyenas and lions. It’s absolutely remarkable at how far the technology has come when dealing with animal life. Loved it…..mostly. The real hang-up here, though, is because it’s mostly CGI. In the original film, the hand-drawn animation, while exaggerated, allowed the animals and characters to have human-like characteristics, especially when it comes to emoting. It’s what allowed the audience to connect with what was happening on the screen. There really isn’t a whole lot of that here, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. The voice-acting is great, but if you can’t see what the characters are feeling, that connection is almost non-existent. To be fair, any of those wild expressions from the first film would fee; wildly out of place in this one, but at the same time, it doesn’t work as well.
The one element that really does work is the music. Hans Zimmer, who scored the original Lion King returns for this film and he just nails it. His work in the first film felt very grand and epic. It’s the same kind of feeling here. A lot of the original songs also make their return, including the grand Circle of Life which opens the film. It was always a fantastic song and the new version is still pretty good. You’ve also got I Just Can’t Wait To Be King, which is just as fun as the original song. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? still has that easy-going and romantic flair that made the original so memorable. Sadly, even the music gets shafted a bit here. Be Prepared that was originally sung by Jeremy Irons is completely butchered here. It only lasted about a minute and it was one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever heard. Hakuna Matata is also not as good as the original film. It doesn’t have the same visual flair. Quite frankly, Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane did a much better job with the singing.
I don’t hate The Lion King. I really don’t. However, I’m very disappointed in the shot-for-shot remake nature of the film. While there are a lot of things to love about the film, and I will admit, that I did enjoy it. However, the things that I noticed stuck out like a lion in a pack of meerkats. The story is still really compelling and being able to see it on the big screen again was a real treat, but certain characters were not handled as well, and some of the voice acting was not as strong as it could have been. If you have to pick between original and this new film, stick with the original. It did it first, and did it better. I don’t see myself owning this version when it hits home video. In fact, I have no desire to see it again. Disney had to screw up royally in order for me to feel that way. With the exception of Mulan, I’m not really interesting in seeing anymore of Disney’s remakes. I was behind them initially with films like Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast, but movies like the new Lion King are making it difficult for me to be excited anymore. I want something new. I want something original. I want to see a return to the hand-drawn animation style that I grew up with and if anybody could do it, it’s Disney. But they won’t. It’s cheaper and easier to do everything in a computer. These new remakes are nothing more than a cash-grab. If you haven’t seen the original Lion King, this new movie is pretty good. But if you have seen the original, there is nothing in here that makes it better. In fact, in most ways, it’s actually very inferior to the 1994 film.
My Final Recommendation: Run away and never return. 6/10.