The Lion King 2019 Review

I swore to myself I wouldn’t see this movie. It’s basically the same version as the animated version, but just realistic and soulless. But unfortunately, I decided to see it because my mom wanted to see it. So I agreed because there is a thing where you can’t judge it until you see it. And guess what? I saw it, and I hate it. I’ve said this many times in the past. I absolutely hate Live Action Disney movies besides Jungle Book, Christopher Robin, and Pete’s Dragon. They are nothing more than soulless cash grabs to only aim at the nostalgia market. When I first heard they were making a Live Action Lion King Remake, I asked myself why? Does it really need one? I don’t think so. And then the trailers popped up and they still didn’t capture my interests. The teaser was pretty good good. Sure it looked like a rehash from the beginning, but I didn’t think so. I mean, The Circle Of Life is such an iconic scene in the movie, of course they’re gonna add it. And then more trailers released, and I got less excited. And then that Hakuna Matata scene on Jimmy Kimmel. That was so bad. And now I finally watched the movie. And I didn’t like it. So I will share my thoughts on it.

One of the things I did like in the movie was the visuals. They look so real, but it’s in CGI. They were really fantastic. They really did look real, and it’s incredible how they can pull it off in a movie like this. Too bad they were wasted in this movie. The movie is literally a shot for shot remake. Every scene in the animated version is all in the live action remake. Even the grooming scene. Yep it’s all in there. They only added a few scenes to keep that 2 hour mark. And it was only Nala trying to escape the Hyenas to get Simba’s help. That’s it. It felt like a waste of time watching it in the theater. I knew what was gonna happen, so what was the point in watching this movie. At least Dumbo did more things differently. Sure Dumbo sucked, but at least it had different elements, and different characters. They changed it up a bit. I haven’t seen Aladdin yet but from what i’ve heard they changed up a few things. Like Princess Jasmine’s character development, and a love relationship with The Genie. But TLK Remake? It’s all the same. Now let’s talk about the biggest problem with the movie. There are no emotions on the animals. They were trying to make it realistic as possible. Really Disney? Correct me if i’m wrong but i’ve seen Lions smile in pictures. They have emotions in real life. Also the Lion from those Narnia movies had emotions. And that movie released in 2005! Also The Jungle Book Remake had a few emotions on the animals face, and Andy Serkes Jungle Book had animals with emotions. So why didn’t they do emotions with the lions in TLK Remake? The thing that made the original TLK movie was how colorful and how happy the movie is. The original Lion King has a lot of memorable moments, and really emotional ones too. It also had facial expressions on the animals. We could tell if they were happy, sad, mad, or upset. But in this remake, we see one facial expression. That’s it. It’s so soulless! All the musical numbers like Just Can’t Wait To Be King, and Hakuna Matata are all soulless. The lions are just running. Where’s the color? Where’s the excitement? It’s not there. And it actually makes it worse. But they ruined the most emotional moment in the movie. Mufasa’s death. They ruined it so well. Scar says “Long Live The King.” Tommy Wiseau style, and literally scratches Mufasa instead of throwing him off the cliff. And Simba’s reaction. Dear lord. I actually laughed at this scene. Yes I actually did. They turned the most emotional moment in the movie, to a laugh fest.

Some of the characters in the movie lost a lot of charm in the movie since they have still expressions. Rafiki especially. He’s so soulless in this version. In the original, he had a lot of emotion in the original, and he was a very memorable character. But in this version, he’s just so stiff. When he finds out that both Mufasa, and Simba’s death he only did a pitty sound. In the original Rafiki mourned because he was so sad to here the news. But in this version, it sounds like he doesn’t even care. He’s all like, “yeah okay, I don’t really care.” Scar’s character was ruined in this version. He sounded so board. He didn’t have that special evil grin on his face because of the soulless faces. And the Be Prepared song was really ruined in this version. Also people said Timon and Pumbaa stole the show in the movie. Did they? I didn’t even laugh at them, and my audience only laughed at them once or twice. Also Pumbaa now farts. They had the nerve to add fart jokes in this movie. Call me crazy, but I don’t remember any fart jokes in the original Lion King. He only farted like once, but we don’t hear it. Why do we have to hear it in this version. Timon lacked all the emotion he had in the original. He was really funny in the original version. Now he has a stiff expression on his face even if he was trying to be funny. Zazu was really annoying in this version of The Lion King. It was on Jar Jar Binks levels I swear. He didn’t sound this annoying in the original version. Now let’s talk about the cast. This movie has a fantastic cast, and some of them do a great job on the characters. But Beyoncé was definitely not one of them. Everyone was so hyped to find out that she will be Nala in TLK Remake. She didn’t do a good job, but i’m not surprised. She’s not good at acting. She’s talented but not good at acting. Cliff as Scar was really disappointing. Of course he wouldn’t be good as Jermey, but he really didn’t do a good job. He sounded so board. Childish Gambino did an alright job on Simba, but he wasn’t as good as Mathew Bronk, who did the original Simba. John Oliver as Zazu was pretty annoying in my opinion. And James Earl Jones returns as Mufasa. He sounds the same, and that’s good. But it wasn’t a good job comparing it to the animated version.

The songs in the movie were pretty good since it’s Lion King Songs. And by that I mean a few songs like Just Can’t Wait To Be King, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, and Spirit. That’s basically it. Be Prepared was really ruined in this version. I didn’t like it at all. Even though Can You Feel The Love Tonight is a good song in this version, it takes place in the day time. That’s pretty misleading. But there were 2 more scenes I wanted to mention that were terrible. The scene where Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa are walking while Simba grows up. That scene was so bad! It looked soulless. They’re just walking. Where’s the dancing? Also there was another scene where they had to use Pumbaa as bait. And they ruined that scene with Timon singing the first few seconds of Be Our Guest from Beauty And The Beast. Who thought it was a good idea to do this? It sounded so out of place.

So i’ll just rap it up here.
Overall, The Lion King Remake is soulless. Sure the visuals are cool but visuals don’t save a movie. This movie was just a waste of my time. John Faveru is a great director, since he directed The Jungle Book Remake, I thought he would do a great job on The Lion King Remake. Guess not. But it wasn’t all that bad. I mean, it was discount day at my local movie theater, so it only costed $14 for 2 tickets.

Final score for this movie:
3/10
Bad

Comments

Correction; -infinity/10
I haven't seen this movie, but from the looks of it, my god it's horrendous - visitor

Your better off watching the animated version, which will be always better. - visitor

100% agreed - visitor

I’m with you - asantalo