- Released: 19 July 2019
- Directed by: Jon Favreau
- Running time: 1 h 58 min
- Rating 4/5
Synopsis
After the death of his father, the king of the animals, a lion cub named Simba must find the courage within himself to face his past and his tyrannical uncle in order to restore balance to the Circle of Life.
My Thoughts
I’ve been building up this review for like half a year and now I’m finally getting to it. When I first started doing Movie Thoughts, this was one of the films I wanted to cover the most. And today we’re doing exactly that! So, let’s have a look at the 2019 animated remake of The Lion King (1994)!
I praised the story in my review of the original Lion King for its great execution. The story isn’t really changed much at all here, so it still holds up. I will say that maybe it could’ve been better if they diverted a bit more from the original, rather than re-enact it beat-by-beat with just some extra scenes thrown in, but, on the other hand, the story in the 1994 movie is so great that messing with it would probably result into something not-as-good. So I completely understand the decision to be more faithful here.
The animation here is… well, something that I’ve seen a lot of people divided over. Some say it’s beyond impressive and amazing, others hate it for how realistic it is. Where do I fit in? In the former, for the most part. I definitely think that it’s awesome how realistic these lions look and how realistic everything moves. Some of these scenes look like they could come out of a documentary on these animals. There are some points I’d like to address, though. First of all, I don’t really see the need for lip sync. The style goes so realistic that seeing these photorealistic animals talk is just kind of… weird? If that makes sense.
In The Jungle Book (2016) by the same director the animals were realistic, but they still emoted more like humans, therefore making the lip movements feel in place. However, these lions are animated so realistically and don’t really express or emote much, that the lip sync feels somewhat out of place. If they’d just had some voice over without them having their mouths move, I wouldn’t have minded.
Either that, or make the animals a little more expressive so it feels less out-of-place. Also, unlike what a lot of people have pointed out, I do not mind the lack of expression of the lions too much. Like yes, sure, it would’ve been great if there’d been a bit more, but this was the style Favreau clearly wanted to go for, and I respect that. The lack of emoting on the faces was something that I noticed at first, but after two scenes you honestly get used to it. The animals emote through their voice acting, and that’s fine by me. They could’ve maybe gone a little bit more overboard with the real animal’s body language (more ears in necks when frightened, for example), but it’s still good as it is if you ask me.The color palette is maybe a tad lacking in comparison to the original, but scenes don’t feel identical, which is my main gripe when it comes to colors. I’d have been great if we got some more abstract colors, but I get that they wanted to go for a more muted realistic palette. I think they could’ve gotten away with being a bit more risky, but it’s fine as it is.
The characters are still good. I have much the same thoughts on them as in my review of the original, so I won’t talk for too long here. Simba is a good lead. I liked Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu in this one, which I can’t really say for the original. Mufasa is still great, I love this re-interpretation of the hyenas, Scar is still a threatening villain, etc. I wish I could say the improved upon Nala based on the points I brought up in my Movie Thoughts of the 1994 one, but they don’t, really. She does have more screen-time, with her having a scene where she escapes, but it ultimately doesn’t do much for her character. She’s fine, but I just wish there was more to her, both here and in the original.
The voice acting, for the most part, was good. I really liked most people’s performances here! Scar has a threatening new actor, both Glover and Beyonce do great jobs as adult Simba and Nala respectively, I really like who they got for Zazu, and Shenzi has a great VA with a voice that perfectly fits the more severe interpretation of the character this movie has. If I could have two nitpicks, it’d be that young Simba doesn’t sound too convincing. It’s not horrible, but with him I can definitely hear that it’s someone in a recording studio, and that slightly distracted from the movie for me. James Earl Jones as Mufasa also doesn’t have the same fire to his performance as in the original.
Something I do wish to address is this movie padding things out. Because it does. I don’t hate it or anything, but there are some scenes where you really wonder why they take so long. The most notable examples of this are the mouse scene at the beginning and later Simba’s tuft of mane traveling to Rafiki’s place. The other scenes all feel fine, but these ones just feel a tad too long.
The songs are still the same as in the original, with some exceptions. "Circle of Life", "Can’t Wait to be King" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" I still enjoy. "Hakuna Matata" still isn’t one of my favorites, even if I do like this version of Timon and Pumbaa better. This movie’s rendition of "Be Prepared" disappointed me at first, but then again, it is more fitting to the films realistic tone. There’s also Spirit, which is a new addition. I genuinely liked this track, even if it isn’t something I’d usually be interested in. The credits soundtrack "Never Too Late" isn’t something I enjoy, unfortunately. I’d also hoped "Shadowland" from the musical would be in here, but it isn’t. Still, for what we got, it’s done well.
The background visuals are also great to look at, if I can backtrack to the visual department one more time. This all feels like real environments. It’s just beautiful and I’d love to explore these locations closer up.
The pacing in this movie is for the most part steady, but like I said above, some scenes do feel a bit needlessly drawn out, such as the mouse and mane scene.
The humor can still be a bit juvenile here, and not all of the jokes are timeless, but it isn’t horrible, either.
Finally, since I talked about the portrayal of the hyenas in my original Movie Thoughts, how does it hold up here? I both like and dislike the 2019 portrayal of the hyenas. What I like better is that they aren’t portrayed as idiot scavengers who constantly crack bad jokes. They’re much more serious here, though they do still have some more light-hearted moments between Azizi and Kamari. I just think these are fine. Shenzi’s portrayal here is probably my favorite, with her being the feared matriarch of the spotted hyenas. However, what I dislike is that they are still villains. Hyenas have already a bad-enough reputation as it is, we really didn’t need another movie to re-enforce this after documentaries like Dynasties already do a lot of damage. I know they added in the line that said that the hyenas were deceived by Scar, but they aren’t exactly morally gray characters, and we get no good hyenas or a hyena with a redemption arc. So I’m mixed on the portrayal of the hyenas here.
The Lion King 2019 is one of the most hated Disney remakes I’ve ever seen. So, is it warranted? Honestly, if you ask me, no. Is it as good as the original? No. Could it have taken more risks and had more expressive/abstract/colorful visuals? Sure.
But for what it is, I still think this is a solid retelling of the story. It has impressive visuals, the story and characters are still as good as in the original and in some minor cases even improved upon. The soundtrack still mostly slaps, too.
If you hate the remake, just re-watch the original. If you like the remake, great, so do I! Just enjoy The Lion King in whatever way you want and are comfortable with!
The characters are still good. I have much the same thoughts on them as in my review of the original, so I won’t talk for too long here. Simba is a good lead. I liked Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu in this one, which I can’t really say for the original. Mufasa is still great, I love this re-interpretation of the hyenas, Scar is still a threatening villain, etc. I wish I could say the improved upon Nala based on the points I brought up in my Movie Thoughts of the 1994 one, but they don’t, really. She does have more screen-time, with her having a scene where she escapes, but it ultimately doesn’t do much for her character. She’s fine, but I just wish there was more to her, both here and in the original.
The voice acting, for the most part, was good. I really liked most people’s performances here! Scar has a threatening new actor, both Glover and Beyonce do great jobs as adult Simba and Nala respectively, I really like who they got for Zazu, and Shenzi has a great VA with a voice that perfectly fits the more severe interpretation of the character this movie has. If I could have two nitpicks, it’d be that young Simba doesn’t sound too convincing. It’s not horrible, but with him I can definitely hear that it’s someone in a recording studio, and that slightly distracted from the movie for me. James Earl Jones as Mufasa also doesn’t have the same fire to his performance as in the original.
Something I do wish to address is this movie padding things out. Because it does. I don’t hate it or anything, but there are some scenes where you really wonder why they take so long. The most notable examples of this are the mouse scene at the beginning and later Simba’s tuft of mane traveling to Rafiki’s place. The other scenes all feel fine, but these ones just feel a tad too long.
The songs are still the same as in the original, with some exceptions. "Circle of Life", "Can’t Wait to be King" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" I still enjoy. "Hakuna Matata" still isn’t one of my favorites, even if I do like this version of Timon and Pumbaa better. This movie’s rendition of "Be Prepared" disappointed me at first, but then again, it is more fitting to the films realistic tone. There’s also Spirit, which is a new addition. I genuinely liked this track, even if it isn’t something I’d usually be interested in. The credits soundtrack "Never Too Late" isn’t something I enjoy, unfortunately. I’d also hoped "Shadowland" from the musical would be in here, but it isn’t. Still, for what we got, it’s done well.
The background visuals are also great to look at, if I can backtrack to the visual department one more time. This all feels like real environments. It’s just beautiful and I’d love to explore these locations closer up.
The pacing in this movie is for the most part steady, but like I said above, some scenes do feel a bit needlessly drawn out, such as the mouse and mane scene.
The humor can still be a bit juvenile here, and not all of the jokes are timeless, but it isn’t horrible, either.
Finally, since I talked about the portrayal of the hyenas in my original Movie Thoughts, how does it hold up here? I both like and dislike the 2019 portrayal of the hyenas. What I like better is that they aren’t portrayed as idiot scavengers who constantly crack bad jokes. They’re much more serious here, though they do still have some more light-hearted moments between Azizi and Kamari. I just think these are fine. Shenzi’s portrayal here is probably my favorite, with her being the feared matriarch of the spotted hyenas. However, what I dislike is that they are still villains. Hyenas have already a bad-enough reputation as it is, we really didn’t need another movie to re-enforce this after documentaries like Dynasties already do a lot of damage. I know they added in the line that said that the hyenas were deceived by Scar, but they aren’t exactly morally gray characters, and we get no good hyenas or a hyena with a redemption arc. So I’m mixed on the portrayal of the hyenas here.
The Lion King 2019 is one of the most hated Disney remakes I’ve ever seen. So, is it warranted? Honestly, if you ask me, no. Is it as good as the original? No. Could it have taken more risks and had more expressive/abstract/colorful visuals? Sure.
But for what it is, I still think this is a solid retelling of the story. It has impressive visuals, the story and characters are still as good as in the original and in some minor cases even improved upon. The soundtrack still mostly slaps, too.
If you hate the remake, just re-watch the original. If you like the remake, great, so do I! Just enjoy The Lion King in whatever way you want and are comfortable with!
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