THE LION KING (2019) REVIEW
Starring: Donald Glover, Beyonce, Chiwetel Ejiofor, & James Earl Jones
Directed By: Jon Favreau (Elf, The Jungle Book, Iron Man)
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
Let’s just get this out of the way because we have to discuss it every time Disney does one of these quote-unquote live action remakes.Yes, this is a cold hard cash grab from Disney.And it works.$185 million this weekend.Biggest July opening of all-time.Ninth biggest opening weekend of all-time.There’s a built in audience for these movies.Stop asking why these exist.Cash Rules Everything Around Me.And this is the 8th, 9th, maybe 10th of these remakes Disney has done.There’s more coming. You bemoaning the lack of originality does nothing.
We’ll review this movie on its own merits, and circle back to playing the comparison game at the end.The Lion King is a truly breathtaking piece of cinema.It looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before.Not quite the awestruck technological achievement of Toy Story or The Wizard of Oz, but a strong candidate for the second tier technological achievement.The animals are gorgeous, the movie looks like a Planet Earth documentary.You’d think that wouldn’t be a problem.Most of the time it isn’t, but there are certain lines, certain plot points of the film where it would help immensely for these animals to be able to emote.They cannot.You can make the creature move its mouth and dupe me into thinking it can talk, but it can’t convey feelings.It’s probably the movie’s biggest problem.Maybe, it’s only problem.
The music is also incredible.As you’d expect.Beyonce adds a new song in an attempt to win herself an Oscar for Best Original Song.She probably will because she’s Beyonce and the song is pretty alright.Other than that, a lot of tow tapping going on in my air conditionless theater.The familiar tunes still struck a chord with the viewers.Most of the music stayed the same, simply the new cast recording the same songs.
The plot of this film still cuts deep.You still feel for Simba and Mufasa as the tragedy that kicks our plot into motion occurs.This was evident by the child BALLING for several minutes in front of me.She was shook to her core that Mufasa died.I wasn’t even mad.That’s a real kick to the gut if you don’t see it coming beforehand.So, I have market research that the Hamlet-inspired plot of The Lion King still hits home.
The new voice cast does a really nice job.Not much dialogue is updated, some newer pop culture references were added for Timon and Pumbaa.The only new plot points are a few additional scenes involving Scar, otherwise it’s almost a shot-for-shot remake.Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner steal every scene they are in as Timon and Pumbaa.I’m a grown man and some of the stuff they said had me howling, holding my side with laughter.Beyonce does great.She is a Queen, so she knows how to play the role.Donald Glover is fine.Maybe not spectacular.Cool to see James Earl Jones reprise his role as Mufasa, because who else could play that correctly?Chiwetel Ejiofor has the unenviable task of trying to outdo Jeremy Irons work from the original.He’s not better, but he’s not bad by any means.
What this remake of The Lion King comes down to is this.If you have never seen the original, you will walk out of this version and think it is fantastic.It’s a superb job.One of the better Disney remakes.Top two or three for me.If you grew up on the original, you will give it an E for effort and move on with your life.It isn’t blasphemous that this version exists.You won’t hate this if you go see it.You might question why this exists, but like I said, you’ve gotta stop with that way of thinking. These remakes are happening and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.
On a scale of “See It/Stream It/Skip It” – See It – Not quite as much heart as the original, but the technology alone is impressive enough to give this a watch.But it comes with the downside of a lack of emotion.
If you liked The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), or Aladdin (2019) you might like The Lion King.
3 out of 5 stars for The Lion King (2019).The animated version is superior in almost every way, but this version is entertaining nonetheless.