The Lion King Review
PG: Sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements
Studio: Disney
Run Time: 1 Hr and 58 Minutes
Director: Jon Favreau | Screenwriter: Jeff Nathanson
Voice Cast: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, James Earl Jones
You know the damn synopsis
As time passes, the tools for technology endlessly advance at an exponential rate, meaning better graphics in different mediums, especially in film. If there is anything to compliment The Lion King on it’s the visual effects. The extensive team of VFX artists gave nothing less than their all to digitally bring the African Savannah to life. This may not be a live action movie (it’s completely CGI in every nook and cranny), but the details within the animation of the animals and the setting are breathtaking.
Director Jon Favreau has proven he’s got the range when directing films of both high and low budgets. He knows how to handle a team of VFX artists and delivers a great job capturing the essence of detail with the recreation of several sequences. When the film opens with its shot-for-shot recreation of “The Circle of Life”, it’s impressive. The iconic wildebeest stampede scene is also impressive. It doesn’t have the same impact or beauty of the original (at all) but from a technical standpoint the visuals are incredible.
Through all the anxiousness I had over this, the only characters I had Hakuna Matata for were the ones who are not only beholders of the infamous saying, but the two who liven things up. I’m talking about Timon and Pumbaa. Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner are the only two scene stealers of this entire movie, for they bring a proper amount of energy to their voice performances. For a film that’s solely based on photorealistic animals, the ones with the best personalities are Timon and Pumbaa. Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson adds a freshness to them by adding more hilarious sequences and most of their humor isn’t just reiterating lines from the original. When Simba is brought to the jungle by the ambiguously gay duo (come on, you know it’s true), you see them living in a community with other animals that weren’t even in the original. Granted, it’s sparse, but it was the only time when this felt like a movie and not a goddamn cash grab excuse for Disney to snag up your nostalgia money and work with Beyonce. Damn it, I broke. It was inevitable but hell, I lasted this long.
Back in 2017, I went to go see Valerian, a movie that boasts incredible visual effects but was so hollow in both story and performances that it left a negative taste in my mouth. As I left the theater, I saw that they were playing The Lion King next door. I didn’t know why -- maybe it was a Disney screening series at AMC -- but I didn’t care. I ran in. The movie was already around the halfway mark, but I didn’t care, for I never had the chance to see it on the big screen. Watching the original to bask in the detail of the animation and the expressive visuals on a 20-foot screen was magical. The brilliance of expressiveness is one of the major elements of what makes a movie powerful for me. Oh, I wish I could go back in time and tell 2017 Rendy in that theater this: “Hey, what if all the lifelessness from Valerian was transferred to a remake of what you’re currently watching?” Because that is truly the best way to describe 2019’s The Lion King.
I’m not an immature idiot who buys into the saying, “this movie ruined my childhood” or anything. I already have a perfect Lion King movie that’s easily accessible. My Lion King: Special Edition VHS is still in my house somewhere. What I’m not fond of is how much our childhood is being capitalized on as a means to regurgitate the same exact narratives we grew up watching and learning from, but dropping the artistry, creativity, and the beauty of the original animations in exchange for realism. What the hell is so beautiful about the real world that gives this movie any sort of appeal? There’s no way to even hold this movie apart from the 1994 film because it’s the same exact story, beat for beat and shot for shot, told all over again. It’s just extended by about 30 minutes, cutting out all the intimacy of the interaction between characters and adding antics to express how great computer animation has become.
The detailing of the CGI effects of animals through closeup shots and whip pans can be so stunning and amusing for a brief period of time, but that’s about it. As Scar is introduced, it’s clear that these animals -- no matter how incredibly computer-generated -- are just animals, lacking any sort of expression whatsoever. Once my awe of the CGI wore off, I immediately thought, “Well, you got money to make CG animals look and act exactly like real animals.”
No disrespect to the VFX team, but making a completely realistic ‘take’ on an animated film that breathes so much life and distinctive personality in each frame is not that impressive at the end of the day. All you’re doing is rehashing an entire narrative without taking any liberties.
I forgot who once used this example so I could rightfully quote them, but let’s take it back to 1996 when Independence Day came out. When it was released, it was a phenomenal blockbuster hit that nearly made a billion dollars because of the top-notch visual effects at the time -- a time where not many studios had the resources and the big budget to match. When Independence Day: Resurgence came out, nobody cared about the boastful mumbo jumbo visual effects because everyone else has the resources to do it just as well, if not better, and it bombed because of that. That being said, what makes this Lion King so special is the visual effects because that’s the only thing this movie offers. Just because you have visual effects and that’s the only thing you got to offer, it doesn’t make your movie a movie.
Let me breakdown a scene to explain. One of the most memorable scenes in the original that delivers chills is when Simba is walking up to Mufasa right before he gets scolded and steps in his pawprint. As he looks up, you see the pain and sadness on his face, helping you — no matter how old you are — get the sense of Simba feeling unable to live up to his father’s legacy. The same thing happens in this remake, but without any emotional expression. All you get is Simba looking up with resting lion face.
How are kids going to get the impact of the powerful imagery when the animals are way too damn lifelike?!
Even from a commercial standpoint for merchandise, who would even be interested in purchasing a toy or shirt based on this movie when all you’re getting are fucking animals with no distinguishing features. You could purchase your kid an Animal Planet toy set and tell them to make believe it’s Simba and you’ll accomplish the same impact of laziness as Disney.
Another element to the art of animation that is significantly important is the voice acting. Jon Favreau is great with handling a visual effects landscape and working with actors, but it’s clear that he doesn’t have the experience to understand how to be a great voice director, for most of his cast is flat and lacking all of the meaningful emotional beats. The reason why someone such as Seth Rogen stands out is because he has a long history of voice acting in his career. He knows how to bring charisma to the characters he voices. Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejifor, and Beyoncé don’t. I’m sorry Beyhive, but Mrs. Knowles-Carter didn’t bring it. She brought new music but that’s about it. And don’t say Beyoncé was in Epic as a means to defend her because 1) she dies too early on and 2) nobody gives a damn about that movie at all. If this was Disney’s excuse to finally work with Beyoncé and market this remake solely on her casting, then sure. But Beyoncé doesn’t add any weight to a movie because we know she’s not a good actress and that Houston accent is bound to unleash no matter what.
Even the great James Earl Jones is only line reading and not lending any emotion to his dialogue like he did 25 years ago. Because of that, the emotional impact from his relationship with Simba is gone. The scene where Mufasa dies is so heartbreaking that, if not given the proper buildup and execution, it’s emotionless. Chiwetel Ejiofor is completely miscast as Scar, for this time he’s more commanding and forceful rather than slimy, smart, and conniving. The movie also adds new convoluted pieces to his motivation to become king besides power and, due to that, I’m not understanding what it is exactly that he wants.
Then... the musical numbers.
If there’s anything that solidifies the emptiness of this movie, it’s the goddamn musical numbers. Instead of getting sequences where spontaneous bursts of color come to life, giving the film both an aesthetic and a mood, what you have instead is animals running around a realistic African landscape. That’s about it. You get animals running and the camera doing extensive dolly movements to keep up with them. The majority of the covers are bad, for not everyone is engaged on the tracks and nobody is harmonizing well.
During “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”, you had Jason Weaver, Laura Williams, AND Rowan Atkinson contributing to the song, making the entire track so lively. Here, as much as JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph are putting their all into this (and I commend them for their incredible vocal performances), John Oliver isn’t even trying. Yes, that was the entire intention of making it “new”, but you’re singing the same exact song note for note. Oliver should be singing. And don’t get me started how colorless the sequence is and all that occurs during it is Simba and Nala running around the Watering Hole. Also, “Be Prepared” is now a damn spoken word-like monologue and cut short.
The highly anticipated “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is weak due to Beyoncé riffing and performing at an 11 while Donald is at a 7 and they are never on the same playing field. It’s like they’re practicing pitching a baseball and when Donald threw straight, Beyoncé returned a fastball and hit him in the chest because she’s that powerful. The best parts of the song are Rogen and Eichner’s prelude and epilogue, for they’re in the same lane and range. It doesn’t help that the sequence is set during the daytime, losing all the contextual meaning behind “CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT”.
I won’t say, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” to Disney because I used that saying twice with their other two remakes released this year. This is their third strike and now I’m livid. I’m a bitch for Disney, but I can only put up with their shit for so long until I begin to call out on their bullshit. And this is coming from someone who gave Cinderella a 5-star rating when I was 16. My anguish with this movie is now reflected on the studio who has massive hard-on for remaking their best works with little to no improvement to the stories, aside from a few minor tweaks. As much as I disliked their other remakes this year, at least Dumbo had a significantly different story. At least Aladdin had charismatic performances and was entertaining. But Lion King is literally a shot-for-shot remake that features just a few minor tweaks to the story that results in some characters losing their significance, extensive scenes that boasts its visuals, and expressions full of lifelessness that validates everything I hate about Disney’s new practice. I’m waiting for one of these to fucking bomb so they can learn their lesson, because that’s the only way to get it through their thick skulls. I don’t even care about Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid unless there’s some difference to the story aside from the diverse cast, because we already learned the errors of being solely hyped over a movie because of diverse casting, especially from Disney.
The only time I’ll care about a Disney remake is if:
It’s a flawed movie or has enough pre-existing material with room for improvement (Jungle Book) and character development (Cinderella).
DELIVERS A COMPLETELY NEW TAKE ON A STORY (Pete’s Dragon) and not just a hollow retelling such as this.
But what do I know is this will make a billion dollars because Disney only cares about capitalizing on what you know and love so they can make a profit out of it. Unless you actually have taste and/or a brain to see past their bullshit, you’re gonna take it and eat it up. All that money Bob Iger wasted on this could’ve gone somewhere else. It could’ve gone to the underpaid workers at the Disney Park resorts, but we know that’ll never happen because, as the new voice of Simba once said,
Unable to hold even the wax to the candle to the original, The Lion King is such a banal money grab with little to offer as it poorly retells a well-known story. It emphasizes its incredible photorealistic CGI so much that it sacrifices the essence of the original.
Remember when the only annoying trend Disney had was theatrically releasing Direct-to-DVD sequels to classic animated films and the occasional Winnie the Pooh movie every 3 years or so?
Yeah, I miss those days.
Rating: 1.5/5 | 31%
