The Lion King

This review may contain spoilers!

This is a true marvel of special effects technology but a relatively boring remake to watch. I would give The Lion King a 6/10.

The Lion King is a remake of the 1994 film of the same name; it focuses on young cub Simba who will one day grow to be the king of the Pridelands. However, when his father is betrayed and killed by his jealous brother, Scar, Simba must flee his home and lives a life of exile until he finds the courage to face his uncle and claim his destiny. The overarching plot of this film is still really strong, the life lessons Simba gains as a young cub are still powerfully delivered and the premise behind the Circle of Life and what it means to the natural order is a powerful theme. When Scar and the hyenas chaotically disrupt that and force Simba to flee you see what happens when the Circle of Life is abused which felt oddly relevant to watch. Ultimately Simba facing his call back to being King of the Pridelands is a worthy one and the films ends in a fairly satisfying way. However, the true triumph of the feature is the visual effects, all of the animal characters look so realistic and are presented in a manner that really showcases how far we have come visually. The score for the film is very similar to the 1994 one but it is still as powerful to hear as ever, the setting of the feature is honoured and the intense, dramatic scenes are heightened.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, who voiced Scar, really holds a malevolent sense of power in how he delivers his lines that holds up to what Jeremy Irons did first with the role; Ejiofor is a master at exuding sinister energy and becoming the most threatening presence in a scene. James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa, will always excel at returning to his two most famous roles: Darth Vader and Mufasa; this might not be new territory for him but he hits every note and every emotion from this character as perfectly as he did the first time. JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph, who voiced Young Simba and Young Nala respectively, were great bundles of energy in the first half of the film; McCrary in particular shows all the wonder and overconfidence that young Simba is famous for rather well. Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre, who voiced Kamari and Azizi respectively, do some great work as minor antagonists who facilitate a good deal of humour; this pair can switch out from menacing to bumbling in all the right moments. Seth Rogen, who voiced Pumbaa, really is quite believable as the quick to act, slow to think partner of Timon; Rogen brings all the charm that this character is so well-known for. Billy Eichner, who voiced Timon, is one of the few cast members who really gets creative with the role and tries some new material; for this reason alone I found Eichner to be one of the funniest characters in the film. Beyoncé, who voiced Nala, comes across as a strong warrior of a character and certainly feels more active in this story; Beyonce is well-placed as more of a leader role and gives this character a bit more purpose. 

However, the best performance came from John Oliver, who voiced Zazu. This film has an incredible cast that mostly nails these famous animated roles, of which one of my favourites has always been the uppity bird, Zazu. John Oliver really takes this character with a good degree of seriousness but also takes the time to have some fun. Zazu is a character bound by the rules and the structured monarchy in place, he is incredibly self-important and entirely unapologetic about it. This is a role that is very loyal and serves many of the protagonists fearlessly, he often puts his own self in the way of danger to ensure the safety of others. Ultimately I love how Oliver gets to make some fun anecdotes about the ridiculous hour of tweeting birds or his 'woodpecker' obsessed relative.

Disney has really doubled down on their live action remakes these past few years and they've nearly all managed to stand out so well due to their ability to tell the classic stories so well while bringing something new and original to the remake. The Lion King doesn't seem particularly motivated to do that, if anything The Lion King is a complete imitation that falls flat on several key plot points. The conflict between the hyenas and lions is extremely melodramatic and the film doesn't really know how to treat the hyena roles, at times they come from a serious place but more often than not they come off as goofballs. The entire death scene of Mufasa is one of the most iconic in the original film but it comes across as rushed here and none of the original emotion stems from it, the younger Simba just rushes through his display of grief. The fact that Simba as an adult takes so long to answer the call to be king creates pacing issues and ultimately his inspiration from Rafiki and his deceased father just don't have the same degree of impact; probably because they don't get creative with how they recreate Mufasa. Even the increased screentime with Nala and how she finds Simba is an interesting idea but one that is poorly executed, it ultimately just eats up valuable time the film didn't necessarily have to spare. The cinematography throughout the film never has a bead of original creative thought, the shots are either straight copies from the original or they aren't dynamic due to the nature of filming such a special effects heavy feature. The soundtrack for this film is a hollow shell of the original, this mainly stems from the fact a lot of the cast just can't manage the singing aspect that well; but I couldn't see rhyme nor reason for shoving that Beyoncé song into the mix.

John Kani, who voiced Rafiki, pretty much misses the opportunity to present this role constantly; Kani gets to tie his character back to his African roots which is brilliant but it means we get no dialogue from the character that the audience can relate to or understand until the third act. Alfre Woodard, who voiced Sarabi, is quite a featureless member of this particular cast; her stoic manner and delivery makes a lot of her scenes rather flat to watch. Florence Kasumba, who voiced Shenzi, crafts her hyena leader role as this harsh and vindictive presence that doesn't really work well alongside some of the stronger performers; Kasumba pushes things over the top and doesn't make an effort to fit alongside some of the things Key and Andre are doing. Donald Glover, who voiced Simba, just doesn't even bother to do any voice acting and it shows; Glover gives a performance that feels indifferent and lazy.