The Lion King Live-Action Remake Is Breathtaking In Visuals But Lacks The Heart Of The Original

     

      The second most anticipated movie of 2019 has arrived after Avengers: Endgame with the release of Disney's live-action remake of the 1994 animated classic The Lion King. The 2019 movie season thus far has brought us three main live-action remakes of Disney classics with the first major release thus far being Tim Burton's Dumbo. Despite the films disappointing box office intake, the film stands as being Burton's best film in years. The second major Disney remake of 2019 was Guy Ritchie's Aladdin. While that film was far more controversial with its journey to the big screen in live-action form such as the casting of Will Smith in the role of the Genie while continuing the work laid out by Robin Williams as well as the painting of caucasian extras to look more middle eastern, the movie turned out to be a solid remake despite its flaws and became a huge box office success grossing over a billion dollars worldwide thus far. Now 2019 brings us to the release of Jon Favreau's live-action remake of The Lion King. Bringing his same style of directing from The Jungle Book over to this film, the new Lion King is visually stunning and breathtaking to watch on the big screen much like that film. However, the film despite being a visual delight on the big screen, lacks the heart and energy of the original film to truly make it a classic nor stand on its own feet.

      The plot for The Lion King remains virtually the same as the original with a young Lion prince named Simba idolizing his father King Mufasa (Voiced once again by James Earl Jones). When his father is murdered by his jealous brother Scar ( Voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor) and set up to make it appear as if its Simba's fault, Simba (Voiced by Donald Glover ) flees his kingdom to discover what the true meaning of responsibility and bravery is. Most of if not all of the original movies themes remain intact with the remake including family, respect, death of loved ones, embracing one's destiny, grief, guilt, putting the past behind you, gender roles, and power. What made the original The Lion King such an iconic animated film, was not just the state of the art animation nor the hit soundtrack from Elton John, it was the films powerful and mature themes that spoke to its audience and taught young generations the importance of embracing ones role in life along with letting go of painful pasts. With the live-action remake, Disney had the opportunity to do the same again here and really expand on that message but instead the film feels like a by-the-numbers live action remake that takes little risks in expanding on such a groundbreaking and beautiful story.

       Some of the most powerful moments from the original film such as Scar's signature Be Prepared song to appeal to the Hyenas, Mufasa chastising Simba for nearly getting him and Nala killed by the Hyenas, Mufasa's death, and Simba beginning his journey back to Pride Rock to challenge Scar for the throne are handled here with less enthusiasm and it shows as the impact of those scenes are less powerful and inspired. With the new film, the message of one not being able to deny their destiny nor change the past but should embrace their role in the future doesn't hit home like it did in the original. Instead important moments such as Simba being hit over the head with a stick by Rafiki in a demonstration to show that the past is the past and what matters is now is traded out in exchange for pointless moments such as the mouse being nearly eating by Scar traveling for a full minute before nearly being targeted. The Hyenas character development in this film was flat with their character trio arc being ruined in this film. The twist of the original movie was the audience discovered that the Hyenas were employed by Scar to kill both baby Simba and Nala. The remake has Scar not knowing the Hyenas prior and convinces them to join him in overthrowing Mufasa on the spot. If it weren't for the fact that the subplot involving the Hyenas and Scar felt rushed and the iconic Be Prepared song feeling uninspired and anti-climatic, the new approach to the story might've worked. The Hyenas in this film are largely devoid of the distinct personalities each one had previously with the audience wondering why they didn't bother to bring back the same actors to play their performances again particularly Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin. The one change to the story that worked in terms of building upon what's been established previously is the revealing of Scar's past romantic relationship with Sarabi, giving the audience a deeper clue of why the relationship between Mufasa and Scar is so icy and full of tension. That's one moment in the remake that truly works with one wishing there was more expansion to the story that walked those lines rather than just copying and pasting most of the first movie.

      In terms of the cast and performances, the ensemble Favreau and the team behind the remake put together is a very strong and beautiful diverse cast though one wishes more actors from the original returned besides James Earl Jones as Mufasa. The latter was irreplaceable and was a smart move on the filmmakers part to bring him back once again. Hearing him voice the role of Mufasa once again is a treasure for Disney fans and serves as a great torch passing moment from one generation to another. The first major change in the casting call for the remake is replacing Matthew Broderick as Simba with Donald Glover. The latter proves to be a worthy replacement as Glover puts his own stamp on the role and makes you believe he's a kid trying to find his footing in the world while coming to terms with his past family tragedy. Glover is charming, funny, and brilliant in how he handles the role with no complaints aimed at him. Beyonce does a fine job playing adult Nala with her and Glover sharing strong chemistry together. Alfre Woodard does a good job playing Sarabi with her character being more complexed and fleshed out this time, one of the remakes nice added touches. John Oliver is really good as Zazu with John Kani turning in a strong supporting role as Rafiki, the latter is a worthy replacement to Robert Guillaume as the original Rafiki and Rowan Atkinson as the former Zazu. Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen deserve points for taking on the iconic roles of Timon and Pumbaa although they still don't hold a candle to Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella's performances. Florence Kasumba does a noteworthy job playing a more serious version of Shenzi despite minimal development. One doesn't understand why Whoopi Goldberg could've reprised her role along with Lane, Sabella, and Atkinson. The films most controversial casting choice and one that still doesn't feel like it comes anywhere close to the performance from the original is Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar. Replacing Jeremy Irons in the iconic role, Ejiofor himself does a reasonable job playing the role though he doesn't carry the same kind of intimidating presence and coldness that Irons brought to the part. The big scene where his character was meant to sing the classic song from the original is a huge letdown as it seemed like it had a strong start. Much like Jafar in the live-action Aladdin, it feels as if Disney is messing up its villains by having the wrong actors placed in these roles as they should've either gone to stronger actors or the same ones from the previous films which is true in the case of Irons. Out of the entire cast, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen deserve the most praise for trying to add their own flavor to the characters and not try and copy Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella entirely. They do the best with the direction their given and run their own show (That Be Our Guest reference to Beauty And The Beast however was lame).

      In terms of directing and writing, Jon Favreau can take pride in the films visual achievements. One can clearly tell that he's a kid at heart and is a fan of the original as there is a passion present in bringing the story to real life form (At least visually). The films visual effects are amazing as the animals and cinematography are simply stunning. Despite the lack of heart, Favreau manages to put the audience in the moment with the photo realistic effects accompanied by the much appreciated return of Hans Zimmer as the films main composer from the original. The movie as a whole looks like an episode out of National Geographic except the animals here can talk. Despite an impressive job that Favreau did on a technical note, one wishes he brought the same kind of heart and inspiration to the project that the older one had. The lack of enthusiasm becomes more evident the more the story goes with the main difference being when Simba runs away after Mufasas death. The latter which was originally one of animated Cinemas most powerful death scenes is treated in the remake like an afterthought which is a shame because the beginning of that scene starts out very well. Written by Jeff Nathanson, there's not much that's different from the screenplay for the original which is disappointing given Nathanson really had the opportunity to expand on certain elements in the plot such as Mufasa and Scars troubled relationship, giving the Hyenas more of a personality in comparison to what's shown in the film, expanding on the older Simba and Nala's relationship rather than throwing the Can You Feel The Love Tonight song at the audience rather quick after their brief reunion, and more of Rifiki teaching Simba about putting the past behind him. Nathanson and Favreau played it safe here which is a shame cause they had an opportunity to expand on such a rich storyline, Perhaps it was fear of angering fans that they didn't try to elaborate further on certain plot elements though looking at the final product, one wishes they took the risk and seized the opportunity.

      On a technical level, the film truly comes alive as the cinematography and visual effects are stunning accompanied by the welcomed return of Hans Zimmer as the films composer. Zimmer's music really helps elevate the movie and save certain scenes from running the danger of being emotionally dry. The films songs however are hit and miss with prime examples being Scars Be Prepared, which just sounded like him speaking fast rather than actually singing. Beyonce's main song with Simba running back to Pride rock felt out of place, coming across as being rather bland and didn't match with the tone of the scene. One doesn't understand why they didn't just reuse the same music from the original in that scene as it was more inspiring and powerful as it conveyed to the audience that Simba finally embraced his destiny. Its also a shame that Elton John's presence is nowhere to be heard in the soundtrack as his work left a powerful stamp on the original film. The films pacing is steady though strange how the new film is a full half hour longer than the original with both movies being nearly 90 percent identical. The art-set decoration much like the cinematography is phenomenal with the opening sequence feeling like a piece of everyone's childhood coming to life regardless of the rest of the movies faults. The design of the animals for the most part is incredible with the looks of the characters being spot on for the most part with the exception of Scar looking rather disappointing. He doesn't look terrible but one wishes they made him appear more closer to the look in the animated film. The films visual effects are the true standout here as The Lion King gives audiences a photo realistic experience that's in a similar vein to The Jungle Book and even James Cameron's Avatar. For that reason alone, the movie is worth seeing on the highest quality theater format which would be IMAX. One forsees several Oscar nominations in the technical category for Best Visual Effects, Art-Set Decoration, and Cinematography (Best Score doesn't apply here as Zimmer just reused most of his old music which goes against the Academy's standards of nominating him again).

      It's not that the live-action The Lion King is a bad movie (its an honorable remake at best), its just disappointing that Favreau and the team behind the new film were more focused on the films visual experience rather than bringing the rest of the movie up to those standards. The end result is worth a watch if you're a fan of the animated film but it lacks the heart, the soul, and the energy of that film. The end message about letting the past go and moving forward doesn't have the same kind of impact the first one had which is strange because both movies essentially mirror each other. The attempts to make the remake different than the original film are few and far between what's familiar. In terms of the films technological achievement, Favreau and Disney deserve applauds for creating a film that's beautiful to watch with the animals. the grass, the trees, and Pride Rock in general coming to life. There's no complaints there as audiences wanted to see this world brought to life and they achieved just that. However, that's just about the only huge praise that can be delivered to the film as the rest of it lacks the wow factor that the technical aspects evoked. The remake is almost the same film practically as the original, its just weaker in quality and lacks a soul of its own to stand on its own feet as a great film like its predecessor stands at. The moments where it did try to be a different movie such as the relationship between Sarabi and Scar or Nala's escape from Pride Rock to find Simba were nice additions but the problem is there's only a few moments of those that try to add to the story. When one thinks of a live-action Disney film that honored the first movie while giving the audience more in terms of story and character development, 2017's Beauty And The Beast comes to mind with that film having the perfect balance of both. Its strange how Jon Favreau can go from creating an awesome Disney remake with The Jungle Book to making a passable yet disappointing remake of The Lion King. At least with Guy Ritchie's Aladdin, they took risks and did their own thing while honoring the original whether audiences liked the final film or not. The same can't be said here, the end result is underwhelming and could've been so much more.

Final Verdict: If you want a visual experience, this is worth a watch on the big screen preferably I-Max. If you want story and character development, you're better off staying at home and re-watching the original as it will hit you more emotionally than this will.