The Lion King 2019
The Lion King was not one of my favorite Disney movies and Disney’s live action remakes, with a few exceptions (The Jungle Book, also directed by Jon Favreau) have been disappointing, so I wasn’t going to see the new photo realistic Lion King. But I got a free ticket for the 3D movie for buying cereal, so I saw it anyway. With lowered expectations, the movie did a little better than some of the others, but I still have issues with the story. Also, unlike The Jungle Book, they have changed very little about this movie so it really is essentially a remake. My problems with the original mostly concerned the unworthiness of Simba to be king: nepotism, disobedience, running from his problems, and getting beat by a girl. I always felt like he should have proven himself somehow with Pumba and Timon or showed some innate leadership skills even if he didn’t realize what he was doing. Also the death of Mufasa is a pretty heavy weight that seems a little out of place (though every Disney movie seems to kill off parents). So I think they blew an opportunity to improve this movie. However, given how beloved the movie is and how it has become Disney’s first black animated feature in some ways, it might be risky to mess with it and when you are cashing in on an old animated favorite, risk isn’t allowed.
The movie. It is fun seeing realistic looking animals in a movie. Some of the scenes look like they were pulled or at least copied directly from live action footage. The way the animals move and the textures are great. I noticed a few misses like when a lion drinks from the water, you expect to see the tongue lapping up a drink, but it isn’t really shown. Also once Nala was grown, I couldn’t tell her apart from Simba’s mother, but female lions look a lot alike. Even though Simba doesn’t spend that much time away, the middle part of the movie drags, and the climactic fight between the lions and hyenas goes on a little too long (both elements similar to the original). The story just isn’t that complicated and seems padded. Because the animals are more realistic, the characters can’t make silly faces, so the movie isn’t as silly either, but still has a sense of humor, relying more on the lines than delivery. Other than James Earl Jones, Seth Rogen and John Oliver, the voices weren’t that recognizable to me, despite some being big names, like Beyonce. The original had three big songs and those are back along with the more lackluster “Be Prepared” sung by Scar, which seems kind of generic (not much different from “Kill the Beast” in Beauty and the Beast and maybe a few other villain songs). A couple of songs are added but only in the credits, which I didn’t hang around for.
In the end, the movie, like most of the other live action remakes, is worth watching just to relive a familiar original movie and see how it looks in “real life.” The 3D is pretty effective in spots, but as usual isn’t that necessary, though since they don’t make 3D TV’s anymore, might be worth the upgrade to see it once. Ultimately, since it is basically the same movie, the choice may come down to whether you want to see photo realistic animals or you want to see the original animation.
Written: 03 Aug 2019
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital