Summer movie season is in full swing and it’s only fitting that a big-name remake lands right in the middle of it all. While Disney’s other reimaginings have been met with mixed results, both critically and financially, The Lion King has likely been the most highly-anticipated so far. Despite numerous technological advances since 1994, the magic of the original isn’t quite there.
All of these recent remakes, Disney or otherwise, suffer from being caught between nostalgic indulgence for the older crowd and broad accessibility for newcomers. For the younger audience who never saw the original The Lion King, all the big moments will carry more weight but it’s all a foregone conclusion for the rest of us. Director Jon Favreau’s film isn’t a shot-for-shot remake but it’s just a visually updated version of the original. Don’t get me wrong, baby Simba and Nala are cute as hell but lack of mystique certainly detracted from the narrative experience, at least for me.
I don’t fault Favreau for maintaining strict adherence to the original story, he was probably a fan, but this was a good opportunity to add some wrinkles and depth for those of us who do remember the first film. While the movie was visually stunning, to the point where it’s tough to tell if some of the time-lapse footage is real or not, it lacked a distinct visual footprint. I couldn’t help but think it looked and felt a lot like another Disney remake, 2016’s The Jungle Book…also directed by Favreau. They are so similar, you could almost theorize that the two stories exist in a shared cinematic universe (wink-wink).
Musical numbers played large roles in the majority of Disney’s cartoon films but that aspect of the film felt very out of key in this hyper-realistic world. The visual presentation made for a richer, more authentic foundation but the animals breaking into song and dance didn’t really fit the tone. The audience is already suspending disbelief enough just accepting that these animals speak (and speak English) but watching their digital mouths sing songs was more befitting of children’s morning television than an epic mid-summer film. I had heard that the musicals weren’t a big part of this new film but that wasn’t the case. All the classics from the original are still there and Beyoncé’s new song “Spirit” is designed purely to win Best Original Song. Unfortunately, it’s about as generic of a soundtrack song as I’ve ever heard and it adds nothing special when it does have its moment in the film. It was integrated well and maybe better than I’m giving it credit for but it should have played over the closing credits instead of being inserted into the storyline.
That being said, Beyoncé was better than anticipated. I hadn’t seen her since Austin Powers in Goldmember. which certainly gave me no desire to see her act ever again. The movie does a good job not playing into her celebrity which allows the whole ensemble thing to work well. The cast was obviously filled with A-list talent but, considering James Earl Jones reprised his role as Mufasa with resounding authority, I’m not sure why Jeremy Irons didn’t come back as Scar. Anyhow, Chiwetel Ojiafor filled those villainous shoes well and made the character his own with the lion-share of the meaty dialogue. Personally, I would have liked to see more of their relationship played out since that rivalry is the catalyst for the whole plot.
Donald Glover was a good Simba but his character easily had the worst dialogue of the group. His musical background made him a nice fit for the role and his comedy chops worked out really well throughout the light-hearted middle of the film. JD McCrary was unfortunately saddled with a large part of the establishing dialogue but he can definitely sing.
There are a lot of good voice performances from John Oliver’s Zazu to Keegan-Michael Key’s turn as Kamari, the primary henchman hyena, but it was absolutely Bill Eichner as Timon and Seth Rogan as Pumbaa who stole the show. It is a bit weird and unsettling at times watching these incredibly realistic creatures crack jokes but, considering the world in which this story takes place, it brought some much-needed levity to the project. They should get their own spin-off project at this point much like the original cartoon spawned two sequels and the Timon & Pumbaa TV series.
With all the reimaginings/remakes, it’s difficult to tell where exactly this movie falls on that scale…especially with Aladdin and Dumbo both this year. The other two films I mentioned at least had something new to offer, whereas The Lion King is almost exactly the same. It’s obviously going to make truckloads of money and is already halfway to $1-Billion globally in its opening weekend but the cash-grabbiness of it is just so blatant and shameless. Frankly, it’s not a bad movie. It’s just not a great one either, despite the box office receipts.
Recommendation: If you saw the first one, you’re much more inclined to see this but you may not like it as much. First-timers, seeing this story for the first time can appreciate much more. This is undoubtedly aimed at kids who grew up with the original who now have children of their own…the sweet spot for our current remake-centric movie culture.