Review of The Lion King (2019) by Mrmoviebuff — 19 Jul 2019

There is no denying that 'The Lion King' (1994) is one of Disney's most treasured animated classics that still impacts audiences today. So, you may ask; why did Disney want to tell the same story again, with the exact same execution? Just because they can.

'The Lion King' has visual wonder and sweeping state-of-the-art CGI, but nothing else new to add. It's disappointing mainly because this is all handled by a talented and trusted filmmaker with Jon Favreau (who also directed 'The Jungle Book' for Disney), so you'd think his charm and creative input would be suited for this particular remake.

Instead, I find myself asking, can you even tell that this was from the same director as 'Elf' (2003), 'Iron Man' (2008) or even 'Chef' (2014)? These films were able to showcase Favreau's talents as a storyteller, but realistically, any other director could have made this movie and the results would be mostly the same.

You know the story, you've seen the film, you more or less love the film, both as a child and as an adult. The problem that lies with this remake is, just like my issues with the 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017) remake, it is shot-for-shot, quote-for-quote exactly the same as the original, warranting the existence of these remakes, mostly pointless.

The cast do a pretty good job capturing the original spirit of the iconic characters, particularly impressive are Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa, they bring their own comedic flair to these characters, and it works because it's the only thing that's different, but doesn't deviate from the original.

At the end of the day, you can't accuse Jon Favreau for "disrespecting" the original movie because he made the exact same film. To most Disney fans, 'The Lion King' (1994) is as close to perfection as it could get, so you can't be mad at Favreau changing little-to-nothing.

But to that, I ask, why tell the same story again in the exact same fashion? Only this time, things look more photorealistic. I understand the novelty that these live-action (I also understand this doesn't qualify as one) remakes is that it's like the animated originals, but it looks real.

What you can achieve in animation, cannot be achieved exactly in animation. One of the common criticisms you may have heard is that the lions don't "emote" as much here as opposed to the original, but that's because the lions in the 1994 original had eyebrows drawn on them, not to mention that Zazu (voiced by John Oliver here) had big human eyes in the original.

I admire Favreau for attempting something here, but I'd rather see him add his own trademarks to his films, whether they're original, or adaptations. 'The Lion King' doesn't showcase any directorial creativity, just cashing in on nostalgia.

If you're going to remake a story, execute it in the most unique way you can, that's why 'Cinderella' (2015) and 'The Jungle Book' (2016) worked so well.