The Lion King (2019) Review

The Lion King (2019)

Can photo-realistic CGI capture the liveliness of the original Disney classic?

     

     Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King is considered by many to be a modern day masterpiece. As part of the much-acclaimed 90's Disney renaissance, the film combined fantastic hand-drawn animation combined with what was at the time cutting edge computer animation to bring together a movie that all ages could enjoy. Twenty-five years later, as part of its new crop of live action remakes of its well-known classics, The Lion King returns to theaters. The epic tale of Simba and the search for his place in the Circle Of Life is now rendered in photo-realistic computer generated animation. 

     This is a very nice movie to look at. The setting is magnificent, with picturesque horizons in the day and calm, star-woven skies at night. The jungles are awash in green, teeming with life both great and small. The mountains are jagged and steep with rugged cliffs on all sides where one wrong step meant certain death. Pride Rock is beautiful to behold and its denizens are rendered well enough to mistake it for a nature documentary. Unfortunately the movie comes across like a nature documentary that got bonked on the head and thinks it's The Lion King. 

     Cartoons made in traditional illustration or even some computer generated animation can allow for a much more expressive and elaborate range of emotions and action. The faces never change in terms of conveying emotion except when it roars or leaps in for an attack. Which is true to life, yes but not what you want to see in a drama with heavy emotional overtones. During the battle at Pride Rock or even the recreations of "Circle of Life," "Just Can't Wait To Be King" and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," the animals movements are about as realistic as it gets, which is a credit to the tireless work of the animators. That being said, take those very same scenes and compare them to the 1994 film. There's a lack of excitement and energy behind the movements. These changes are most glaring not just during the dramatic scenes, many of which were altered, but the renditions of "Just Can't Wait To Be King" and "Hakuna Matata." The classic villain song "Be Prepared" is heavily abridged, as well.

     Now, I'm not saying that the faces needed to be exaggerated to the point of cartoonish proportions because then the opposite problem occurs and you can't take anything happening on screen seriously. But with the characters unable to provide any sort of expression aside from their natural state, it falls on the voice actors to bring the emotional weight to the dialogue and scenes as presented. 

     The performances here are something of a mixed bag. John Oliver and Seth Rogen more or less play their typical types but as Zazu and Pumba, respectively. Eichner's Timon does seem a bit less aggressive than his usual schtick, channeling Nathan Lane's laid back rendition of the mouthy meerkat. They don't light the screen on fire with their portrayals so much as lend their highly recognizable voices so you can go, "Oh, hey it's [insert name here]. Neato." They have some of the better lines in the movie, though there is a lot more meta humor than I was expecting. James Earl Jones still has the gravitas and commanding presence he's always had. 

     Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a decent performance but despite having many of the same lines as Jeremy Irons spoke in the 1994 version, the newer Scar comes across as a bit more of an entitled whiner with a bit of a misogynistic streak. A significant change from the previous incarnation is that Scar is adamant that Sarabi,Mufasa's widow and played nicely by Alfre Woodard, mate with him as his Queen so as to make the remaining lions of Pride Rock fall in line. Her steadfast refusals are a constant jab at not only his rule, but his "lionhood" for lack of a better phrase. Adding an unrequited romantic feeling for Sarabi ultimately changes nothing for Scar's motivation from the first: his desire to see Mufasa dead and wanting to rule in his place.

     Another problem I'd found is a lot of the line deliveries felt lifeless. Donald Glover's delivery (or at least the takes used) seemed kind of subdued, which worked fine for the scenes when we meet adult Simba in his carefree lifestyle, but not when the time came for him to have more emotion behind his lines.

     In conclusion, The Lion King 2019 is, like many of the live action Disney remakes, wholly unnecessary. The differences from the 1994 version are in the wrong area, in my opinion. While the photo-realistic computer animation is breathtaking at times, it didn't quite lend itself to the emotional impact of the story. If you have to scratch the nostalgia itch, it'd be more worth your time to just watch the VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray copy of the previous version or see it on a streaming service.