The Lion King
An underwhelming remake - 5/10
by The Movie Inspector
A mediocre adventure film, The Lion King is an underwhelming remake of the 1994 classic that doesn’t do it justice with its soulless narrative. What is absent in terms of storytelling is made up for with visuals as the CGI is simply breathtaking!
We’ve all seen the original Lion King movie and know just how iconic it is, and if I’m to be completely honest, this remake doesn’t even compare to that. Don’t get me wrong, this movie isn’t terrible but rather far less superior because it lacks the heart and humor that the original had. I know that lots of people will be divided on this and that many may enjoy this movie for nostalgic purposes but that’s still not an excuse for the poor execution and creative decisions that were taken. ‘The Lion King’ follows a young lion prince who flees his kingdom after the murder of his father only to grow up and understand the true meaning of responsibility.
Let me start out by mentioning the positives. The special effects were truly astonishing, all the animals were photorealistic and I won’t lie, that was really impressive to see on the big screen. The voice performances were pretty good, especially with Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen who play Timon & Pumbaa and were arguably the best part of the movie. The legendary James Earl Jones also returns as Mufasa and is as great as ever. The Score by Hans Zimmer was also one of the highlights of the movie yet wasn’t that emotionally felt as in the original. Moving on to the negatives, where the biggest issue happens to be the whole shot for shot remake process. It decides to take everything from the original and simply project it with CGI.
Some may not find that as a huge deal however that came at the cost of the storytelling as everything became so bland. Some of those iconic moments simply can’t be translated in such a way and then again why would anyone ask for the same exact thing but in CGI? Why would anyone settle for an unimaginative remake, I’m sure Disney’s creative crew could’ve added a lot more to this. It can’t just build on the legacy of the original and expect everyone to feel nostalgic while having nothing new to offer. Plus the whole characters’ physical emotions didn’t really exist. It came to me as a shock because after witnessing Disney’s remake of ‘The Jungle Book’ I was certain that they’d know how to handle this classic, yet I was wrong. Nonetheless, all fans should give this movie a shot.
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