The Lion King (2019) Review

The Lion King Movie (2019) Review

With the success of the recent live-action remakes of classic Disney animated movies, I was really looking forward to this new version of The Lion King. I loved what Disney did with Beauty and the Beast and most recently the new Aladdin movie. The later of which I find has the best soundtrack of these new remakes. So, I was hoping to be blown away by the new lion king movie. While I did enjoy the movie, I left a bit disappointed.

The new version is almost shot for shot the same as the original animated movie. Unlike the new Aladdin which added several new changes, The Lion King only had small changes that didn't actually impact the story much nor give the story a broader scope. Director John Favreau used the technology he help develop during filming The Jungle Book live action remake, and up'd the game for this movie. The visuals are spectacular, at times you forget that these are not actual lions or animals on screen. Even the landscape and environment are computer generated graphics. This movie looks better than some nature documentaries.

However, looks are not everything, and this movie falls flat for me in a few areas. First, the voice actors specifically, Scar, Simba and Nala. To be fair, the actors are not trained voice professionals, but little emotion comes through in their performances. Secondly, the story doesn't add enough new to it, making me think this was only remade to challenge the visual effects team. Lastly and most importantly the songs. The original animated movie has a some of the most notable Disney musical numbers. So, popular that the Broadway musical version is still going on to this day. And while Donald Glover and Beyonce do bring their vocal talents to the song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” the other songs aren't as strong, and that includes the new Beyonce song “Spirit”. While the songs in the movie were fine, they didn't blow me away the way the Aladdin soundtrack did.

Now on to the positives of the movie! Three of the characters stood out, Timon voiced by Billy Eichner, Pumba voiced by Seth Rogen and Zazu voiced by John Oliver. These three make a big impact on the movie and provide most of the comedic relief. Eichner and Rogen even sing a new and longer version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. And Eichner pays tribute to another classic Disney song from Beauty and the Beast (not the one you're thinking of). While I was disappointed In Chiwetel Ejiofor's Scar, I was impressed with Alfre Woodard's Sarabi (Simba's mom). She offered a strength to the character that was in the original but Woodard improved the character. A quick mention to the hyena's, they are a lot more threatening in this version, with Shenzi being the fierce leader.

If you loved the original animated The Lion King then you will enjoy the new version. However, don't get too excited for the musical numbers. While there is a lot of good in this movie, it's not one of my favorites from these new Disney remakes. I may watch it again, but since it doesn't added enough new changes I'd rather watch the animated movie. I'll say this though, I did cry throughout the whole movie, and as a cat person, I found young Simba to be absolutely freaking adorable! So, there you go, a good movie, but not a favorite of mine. Still something to check out if you love the animated version.