Review of The Lion King (2019) by Muskrat147 — 22 Jul 2019

After seeing the success of Disney's The Jungle Book three years ago, it seemed likely then that Favreau and company would return for future "live-action" remakes of previously hand-animated classics.

However, when it was announced that, before much else, the quite recent Lion King from 1994 would be the next to face a reboot treatment, optimism and hype soared. The cast was announced, with James Earl Jones returning.

Zimmer signed on to adapt arguably his best score for a second outing, and the first teasers were released. The biggest of Disney's planned reboots was shaping up to be the best seen so far. And yet, wrong we were.

As entertaining as this film may be for many, especially for those who have yet to see the original, the reimagined take on nearly every iconic sequence and moment feels lazy and uninspired. The grand appeal of the hand-drawn animation, with its bold colors and creative character design, has been replaced by photo-realistic recreations of real-world creatures.

This was the biggest selling point for Favreau, having first applied this use of CGI to The Jungle Book. However, where it worked then, and managed to capture some of the emotion expressed in the characters; here, it fails to showcase anything close to the emotions seen in the original.

Though very real in appearance and design, any attachment to these characters like that in the original is lost here. The iconic shots, moments, and beats are recreated, sure, but it is nothing more than that - a recreation.

And quite soulless, to be frank. Every song is half as memorable as it was originally ("Be Prepared" taking home the trophy for biggest disappointment). The jokes are largely the same, yet less funny.

The memorable quirks of Rafiki and Zazu have largely been erased, and instead they serve largely to aid in propelling the already well-known plot forward. The character seen in the animation is replaced by darker, albeit more realistic colors, and the shot design is less creative, and again, lazy.

Though still entertaining to sit through and witness in the theater, The Lion King (emphasis on 2019) pales in nearly every comparison to the original, and sadly, only conjures up to be a basic and fundamental retread of the beloved classic.