Movie Breakdown: The Lion King

Pre-Screening Stance:

I really enjoyed Jon Favreau’s version of The Jungle Book, so I definitely have faith that he can pull off a live action adaptation of The Lion King.  With that being said, 2019 has already seen Tim Burton’s totally terrible take on Dumbo and Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin ended up being just OK, so who really knows what to expect from these things at this point.

Post-Screening Ramble:

The first thing that needs to be noted here is that The Lion King is nowhere near a bad movie.  Director Jon Favreau played this one smart, in that he essentially took 95% of the 1994 animated classic, added in a few little touches of his own, then gave the whole thing a stunning new skin and shipped it out.  In other words, you’ve essentially already seen this film, it just looks different.  Does this mean you’re going to love it?  Possibly.  It’s really going to depend on how you take in some of its weirder elements.

Before I get to that stuff, let’s run through the particularly great bits.  First up, the CG here is truly jaw-dropping.  I thought the animals in Favreau’s The Jungle Book looked pretty amazing, but The Lion King blows that film away.  My showing took place at a legit IMAX theater, and I frequently found myself just lost in all of the detail on the screen.  Definitely see it that way if you can.  On the character side of things, it’s largely the same as the animated version, but I do appreciate that Billy Eichner (Timon) and Seth Rogen (Pumba) were allowed to do their own thing.  They provide a really modern, meta style of humor that makes for one of the film’s best elements.

As for the weird stuff previously mentioned, it all really boils down to the film looking too realistic.  Actual real life-looking animals simply can’t emote in the way that cartoons one can, and because of this there’s a lot of oddball moments.  When the characters are simply talking back and forth, it’s fine, but toss in some screaming or laughing, and what you get is just an animal with its mouth open.  One scene in particular features an Instagram-type super-zoom in order to indicate a shocked Simba – because again, otherwise it would just be him with his mouth open – and I couldn’t help but laugh.  The same issue also comes up with every one of the musical numbers, which are far more sing-talky than the original in order to compensate for the lack of emotional range that an actual animal is capable of.  Remember how Be Prepared is a huge, bombastic affair in the ’94 version?  Well, since the 2019 take is so bent on realism, Scar low key goes through it while walking around in some moody fog.  And yeah, you know the words and it’s still pretty fun, but it’s not menacing at all and because of this, it feels off.  I really do believe the CG in The Lion King is groundbreaking, but strangely enough, it frequently grounds the film when it should make it soar.

I enjoyed The Lion King.  It’s largely the same as the animated film that came before it, and it’s a legit visual spectacle that’s worthy of being seen at a theater.  Just keep in mind that your mileage may vary when it comes to its look and feel.

One Last Thought:

A good number of the hyenas in The Lion King have really dark, deep set eyes, and on occasion it makes them look like they’re wearing another hyena face on top of their own.  Can’t say I expected intermittent Leatherface vibes in this one.