A lot of people are complaining about how The Lion King is just a copy of the original, while I understand that argument, I’m not complaining about how this traditional story was given a more realistic and dramatic life.
This new adaptation is absolutely stunning and is some of the most amazing computer animation I’ve ever seen. You can hardly believe that the world you’re seeing on screen was created by a computer and it’s completely breathtaking. At times I forgot it was animated because it looked that real.
The opening scene where the circle of life comes on, Simba is raised up, and the title pops onto the screen in dramatic fashion gave me goosebumps as I was reliving my childhood. That being said, there were times I wish that some creative liberty was taken in the film.
When you’re watching the film you’re filled with massive amounts of nostalgia. That to me is what’s so special about the film, and if they had taken more risks it wouldn’t have created that feeling of your childhood coming to life.
I think that’s why Favreau didn’t take any risks with changing the story because it’s so close to so many people’s hearts, and if you changed it the story wouldn’t have the same effect.
Also, I wish they wouldn’t have dialed back Rafiki as a character. They took out his best scene explaining life to Simba and that was really disappointing. Also, Scar’s iconic song Be Prepared was cut more than in half, which led it to have little to no effect.
That being said, The Lion King is a gut punch of emotions and let my tears flow. Mufasa and Simba have a great connection as always, and truly embody the father and son relationship. A lot of people were disappointed that the Lions and other characters didn’t have the facial expressions or emotion that the original animation had.
The realism in the film isn’t able to do this because that’s not something animals do. This plays more on the serious and dramatic mood the film wanted to create. I think they were successful in this aspect as I found the movie to be captivating, and a more elevated version of the original.
The one thing I didn’t particularly care for in the movie was Donald Glover as older Simba. While he was enjoyable he didn’t live up to his other cast members. While I usually enjoy his work it seemed that here he missed the mark. He was a little too comical and made Simba rely too heavily on other characters making decisions for him.
Simba seemed to have more of a childish quality to him than Nala, and it didn’t match up well in my opinion. I think if he created a Simba that still had childish qualities, but knew when to take things seriously, and make big decisions it would have been more successful.
Beyonce and the rest of the cast did an amazing job. Beyonce embodies Nala and did a great job portraying regolness. Timon and Pumba provided great comedy, and I think my favorite part of the film, and the hyenas and Scar helped create menacing villains.
The Lion King was a fun adventure that wasn’t perfect, but still a massively enjoyable movie. They stayed true to the original, but made it more serious and realistic which brought new life to a meaningful story to many of us.
I give The Lion King an A-
