Jon Favreau’s remake of the 1994 animated classic is unique and new in terms of filming, but relies heavily on the original.
Lights down, cue music, “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba Sithi uhm ingonyama” The intro to Disney’s The Lion King will always be a classic, even if we have no clue what is being said. The latest Hollywood remake of the 1994 Disney classic The Lion King is the same movie just shot through virtual reality, animated, and live action film-making techniques.
The story remains simple: Mufasa (James Earl Jones also original voice role from 1994) and his mate Sarabi (Alfre Woodard), the king and queen of the Pride Lands welcome their new cub, Simba (J.D McCrary) into the world. The cunning brother of Mufasa, Scar (Chiwetel Ejifor), is jealous and thirsty for power, he conspires to kill Mufasa and tricks Simba to leave his home and never to return. Scar claims his spot as the new king ushering in the hyenas to torment and terrorize the lioness and other animals as he depletes the lands of all its resources. Simba (Donald Glover) grows up and must decide does he take his place as the rightful ruler and fulfill his destiny.
Despite all the celebrity names attached to the project, I left the theater feeling very underwhelmed. Cinematically it was visually stunning, but the magic of the original was lost in translation. There is no deviation from the original script it’s almost an exact replica frame for frame, which leaves me to wonder do studios just have money to throw away? I just did not see the point in re-making this film.
From an effects stance visually the animals were very life-like in the sense the subtle movements and twitches of the animals were present, even down to the insects and flower debris floating in the air. The sunset and terrain shots were captured beautifully along with the movements of the animals and other natural elements. For all of the cinematic beauty the story itself was just flat.
Thanks to Billy Eichner (Timon) and Seth Rogan (Pumbaa) for stealing the screen with their characters, they brought humor and great comedic timing to a dull story. The original seemed to pull on your heartstrings more versus the remake.
Director Jon Favreau known for his 2008 Iron Man and 2010 Iron Man 2 directing abilities along with 2016’s The Jungle Book, proves he is able to tell compelling stories through the lens. However this remake just does not cut it for me.
The Lion King hits theaters July 18th.
Mommy Moment:
I had the opportunity to screen The Lion King with my soon to be 8 year old daughter. Since she is not a product of the original her thoughts were not as jaded as mine. She absolutely loved the movie. She had tears in her eyes at the dreaded part we all hate. There were a few moments where she jumped and covered her eyes. Is this appropriate for audiences younger than 8 I think some kids may have trouble dealing with certain scenes because of how real they appear and it had a darkness to it, but overall a nice family outing.