The Lion King (B or 3/4 stars)
'The Lion King' (based in part on William Shakespeare's Hamlet & directed now by Jon Favreau) - with exception to a few shots here, a line of dialogue there & a new song - is a CGI copy of the 1994 animated classic. To those looking for that & looking to sit back in the A/C this 2019 summer heat wave ... you'll enjoy this family entertainment. It is nostalgic. It is familiar. It is beautiful. And potent themes of power, deceit, family, betrayal, tragedy & redemption drama are intact; along with great music & bouts of fun/humor. There are others cynics, however, who say that this version is a Disney cash grab that lacks the personality of the '94 film. I enjoyed a lot of this film, for sure ... but I can also see the criticisms.
King Mufasa (soulfully, baritone voiced again by James Earl Jones) & Queen Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) of the Pride Lands present their baby cub Simba (JD McCrary) to the other animals as their future king in the iconic opening set to the majestic "Circle of Life" {the 1st time tears streamed down my face, haha}. Zaza the hornbill always tries to keep Simba safe. Mufasa's trusted aide, Rafiki the shaman monkey oversees, as well. And Simba happily croons "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". Things are going swell for the royal lion family until jealous, conniving Uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) lures adventurous Simba into a ravine where hungry hyenas launch a wildebeest stampede. After making sure his brother King Mufasa takes a fatal plunge, treacherous Scar slyly convinces Simba that it is all his fault and to flee so that HE himself can ascend to the throne; promising to take his hyena pack with him.
Now far away from the Pride Lands, exiled Simba befriends a comedic duo: meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner) & his warthog BFF, Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), who have a "Hakuna Matata"/no worries approach to life. All this while, Scar & his scavenging hyenas have turned the lush, fertile Pride Lands into an apocalyptic desert. Now a carefree grown lion, Simba (now voiced by Donald Glover) is re-acquainted with his childhood friend/betrothed, Nala (now voiced by Beyonce). They sing the swoony "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?". But romance doesn't last for long. There are more important matters at play, as Nala begs Simba him to return home, challenge sitting-King Scar & take back the kingdom that once thrived under Mufasa's reign.
Okay, so it is impossible to deny the film/story's appeal on an elemental level. Those who have seen the '94 version may be overtaken by sentiment & nostalgia. And since 2010, Disney has honed quite the "live-action" formula {whether critics love it or not}, including: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Maleficent, Beauty & the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin - and those to come - Mulan, Lady & the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchio, Lilo & Stitch, & others. They keep making $$, so cynics will just have to deal with it.
With its staggering visuals & ensemble cast, this remake 'gets the job done'; benefitting from Hans Zimmer's legendary music, the gravitas of James Earl Jones' Mufasa, & a host of loveable characters. Chiwetel Ejiofor's ne'er-do-well Scar is particularly stellar; no surprise given his classical dramatic training; giving 1994's Jeremy Irons a run for his $$. Daniel Glover & Beyonce have good voice chemistry in the last act. And Billy Eichner & Seth Rogen give the movie a real punch as the humorous Timon & Pumbaa; I especially LOVED their cheeky "In the Jungle" song which segues into something scarier.
The photo-realistic CGI is technically astounding; blending Caleb Deschanel's sweeping landscape cinematography with amazing computer visual effects. The varied African animals, bugs, blades of grass, stones ... all incredible. One other note, this version is decidedly darker than '94's - which I'm cool with. i.e., the teeth-baring hyenas, the terrifying & tear-jerking wildebeest stampede, & an elongated climactic battle. That said, plenty of humor - thanks mostly to Pumbaa & Timon - is retained from the original. There's even a tongue-in-cheek reference to another Disney classic that actually fits right in with the story, here.
Now, though I was dazzled by the visuals & moved by the emotions of the songs/story ... this really IS just a lovingly shot-by-shot facsimile of the '94 classic. To that, since the near-perfectly rendered animals look so realistic, there is a distancing effect when the animals sing & emote. Hand-drawn animation can easily make animals appear natural in talking, twisting their bodies & belting out songs, while the effect simply doesn't work as well for CGI animals; faces/mouth can't change much. Either that bugs you or it doesn't -- I recognize the irk factor of it. You know, had there never been a '94 version, this film would be more highly regarded than it is. To that, in comparing the two versions, this one succeeds, but some magic is missing.
King Mufasa (soulfully, baritone voiced again by James Earl Jones) & Queen Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) of the Pride Lands present their baby cub Simba (JD McCrary) to the other animals as their future king in the iconic opening set to the majestic "Circle of Life" {the 1st time tears streamed down my face, haha}. Zaza the hornbill always tries to keep Simba safe. Mufasa's trusted aide, Rafiki the shaman monkey oversees, as well. And Simba happily croons "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". Things are going swell for the royal lion family until jealous, conniving Uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) lures adventurous Simba into a ravine where hungry hyenas launch a wildebeest stampede. After making sure his brother King Mufasa takes a fatal plunge, treacherous Scar slyly convinces Simba that it is all his fault and to flee so that HE himself can ascend to the throne; promising to take his hyena pack with him.
Now far away from the Pride Lands, exiled Simba befriends a comedic duo: meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner) & his warthog BFF, Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), who have a "Hakuna Matata"/no worries approach to life. All this while, Scar & his scavenging hyenas have turned the lush, fertile Pride Lands into an apocalyptic desert. Now a carefree grown lion, Simba (now voiced by Donald Glover) is re-acquainted with his childhood friend/betrothed, Nala (now voiced by Beyonce). They sing the swoony "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?". But romance doesn't last for long. There are more important matters at play, as Nala begs Simba him to return home, challenge sitting-King Scar & take back the kingdom that once thrived under Mufasa's reign.
Okay, so it is impossible to deny the film/story's appeal on an elemental level. Those who have seen the '94 version may be overtaken by sentiment & nostalgia. And since 2010, Disney has honed quite the "live-action" formula {whether critics love it or not}, including: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Maleficent, Beauty & the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin - and those to come - Mulan, Lady & the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchio, Lilo & Stitch, & others. They keep making $$, so cynics will just have to deal with it.
With its staggering visuals & ensemble cast, this remake 'gets the job done'; benefitting from Hans Zimmer's legendary music, the gravitas of James Earl Jones' Mufasa, & a host of loveable characters. Chiwetel Ejiofor's ne'er-do-well Scar is particularly stellar; no surprise given his classical dramatic training; giving 1994's Jeremy Irons a run for his $$. Daniel Glover & Beyonce have good voice chemistry in the last act. And Billy Eichner & Seth Rogen give the movie a real punch as the humorous Timon & Pumbaa; I especially LOVED their cheeky "In the Jungle" song which segues into something scarier.
The photo-realistic CGI is technically astounding; blending Caleb Deschanel's sweeping landscape cinematography with amazing computer visual effects. The varied African animals, bugs, blades of grass, stones ... all incredible. One other note, this version is decidedly darker than '94's - which I'm cool with. i.e., the teeth-baring hyenas, the terrifying & tear-jerking wildebeest stampede, & an elongated climactic battle. That said, plenty of humor - thanks mostly to Pumbaa & Timon - is retained from the original. There's even a tongue-in-cheek reference to another Disney classic that actually fits right in with the story, here.
Now, though I was dazzled by the visuals & moved by the emotions of the songs/story ... this really IS just a lovingly shot-by-shot facsimile of the '94 classic. To that, since the near-perfectly rendered animals look so realistic, there is a distancing effect when the animals sing & emote. Hand-drawn animation can easily make animals appear natural in talking, twisting their bodies & belting out songs, while the effect simply doesn't work as well for CGI animals; faces/mouth can't change much. Either that bugs you or it doesn't -- I recognize the irk factor of it. You know, had there never been a '94 version, this film would be more highly regarded than it is. To that, in comparing the two versions, this one succeeds, but some magic is missing.