The third of the 4 remakes of 2019… I still can’t believe they released 4 of these things in 2019, was of Disney’s most popular animated movie, The Lion King.
This really doesn’t qualify as a Live Action remake, nothing about this film is live action, it’s all computer generated. Apparently, filming began in a studio, why? Was it a recording booth… Wow, I’m making my feelings for this known early, aren’t I?
Jon Favreau is back as director, he directed the Jungle Book which is very similar, it’s also by far my favourite of the Disney remakes. Still, The Lion King is a Disney classic for a reason, so how do they remake it? Let’s take a look.
This film is almost identical to the animated version when it comes to the story. I don’t really have the energy to summarise it, but hey, that means they haven’t added an unnecessary extra dead parent to this one, hooray!
OK, there are some minor changes to the story, like really minor, but I suppose the biggest is Scar after he took over. His backstory now also includes being rejected by Sarabi and he spends most of the back half of the movie trying to persuade her to join him and get the Lionesses fed. The Hyenas are now the ones doing the hunting over the Lionesses. See, this is why the Hyenas needed to be segregated, segregation is good, right?
OK, Nala also gets her role expanded a bit with having to sneak out of the Pride, it’s not much but I guess it’s something… She also gets to fight with a lead Hyena, the fight has no definitive winner so I’m not sure what the point was but…
OK, this film as a film in and of itself is fine, the biggest problem it has is that original exists, and the original is just better. The animation allowed for some funnier slapstick, the whole lesson about not running from your past and instead learning from it is glossed over in the remake, the animation is more expressive, it’s more vibrant and colourful (because of the insistence on realism, half the cast blend into their backgrounds) the songs are better, Scar’s voice actor is better, James Earl Jones is better.
Let’s talk briefly about Timon and Pumba, they have an entourage now. I thought their whole deal is Timon is the one who doesn’t care about Pumba’s… flatulence. Also, they make some weird self-aware jokes, particularly with regards to the popularity of Hakuna Matata, which felt less funny and more self-congratulating which kinda irritated me.
“The birds are tweeting at 4 in
the morning”
Couldn’t resist that joke, could we, Disney? Next, you’ll make a necking joke…
Oh for f*cks… ‘Can you feel the Love Tonight?’ is sung in the daylight and it’s
one of the most insulting aspects of the entire production, it wouldn’t even be
that difficult to correct. Be Prepared has been relegated to a barely sung
version, which is not ideal. But we definitely needed to give Beyonce a song, I
mean, why else is she here? It’s just funny to me that Nala doesn’t actually
sing it.
If I were to describe the Lion King in one word it’s soulless. More than any other Disney Remake so far, it feels like a cynical cash-grab. It doesn’t make insulting changes to the original only because it barely makes changes at all and even from the low bar of entertaining your kids, you would be better off showing them the original, but then this movie made over $1bn, so what do I know.
Rating 50/100
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