My Review of The Lion King (2019) · 8:35pm Jan 3rd, 2021
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
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Behold, my first blog of 2021! Oh yeah!! May we all have peace and slow restoration throughout this year! Anyway, here is my review of the live-action remake of The Lion King. Unlike the best animated masterpiece Disney had made, this film is nothing more than a lifeless, soulless, and bland regurgitation of the original. Despite the differences this film has, it is still the same story being told all over again with no energy, no enthusiasm, and no joy whatsoever. It is almost as if these guys had no fun at all with the making of the movie, the retelling of the story, the lines of dialogue, and the production of the property. Fasten your seatbelts because this is gonna be quite a ride.
1). First of all, props to Jon Favreau for bringing in the original voice actor for Mufasa, James Earl Jones. While it was awesome to hear his legendary voice again through him, he spoke as if he was incredibly bored with the script and wanted to be done and over with. Plus, Mufasa sounded like he just got up from bed (literally) and wasn't in the mood to be a warm, fuzzy kind father to Simba or to have playful talk with Zazu like in the original. For example, during the morning report scene, Mufasa was like, “Hey, I’m gonna give you the lecture about rulership. Okay, we’re done, just stop talking to me already.” Another example, when Rafiki joined with him during the opening scene, they did not hug at all like in the original film.
I know that the filmmakers wanted a more realistic approach to the movie, and I can definitely understand that. However, there is one flaw to that line of reasoning: ANIMALS DO NOT TALK IN REALITY! Depriving them of lively facial expressions is one thing, but having them all talk with no energy or enthusiasm is just even more irritating. Half of them sounded like they were half-asleep and half-bored with their project. Also, if they wanted a more realistic approach to the story, they should have taken the risk of not having the animals talk at all and have the story be told from our perspective. It may appear as a documentary, but that would’ve been a risk worth taking. You can’t just say that the film is more realistic by just not having them dance or have facial expressions but still have them talk. That’s not how it’s supposed to work. You can’t do both. It’s either give them all lively facial expressions AND have them talk with the same magic and energy like in the original, or just have them behave like normal animals without talking.
2). Chiwetel Ejiofor wasn’t that bad as Scar, but he really needed to put more energy as the main antagonist. However, I thought he did very well in “singing” Be Prepared. I mean, seriously, that song is really catchy! Listen to this:
Gosh, that is just so good! I know, it’s more like a poetry than an actual song, but it’s still enticing to listen to.
Anyway, this version of Scar is more like an angry, depressed, and outright melancholy type of villain. Whenever he attempts to be sarcastic or manipulative, he just fails hard to be one. The original Scar was more charismatic, devilishly charming, and more cunning. This one is just... sad. Speaking of the original version, why couldn’t they get Jeremy Irons to reprise his role as Scar? They got Mr. Jones to do it, so why couldn’t Mr. Irons? In one of his interviews, he said that he was interested in voicing the villain again. But Disney never contacted him for it.
I think that they wanted to get an African-American cast to voice the African animal characters. If that’s the case, then how is it that Seth Rogen (the voice of Pumbaa) and Billy Eichner (the voice of Timon), who are both white, were allowed to voice these characters? The same thing can be asked for John Oliver (voice of Zazu). Hmmm, some things are not adding up for me.
3). With the exception of Be Prepared, the rest of the songs are nearly bland as they were deprived of the magic that accompanied them in the animated film. Don’t get me started with their choice of Beyoncé voicing Nala when she sang alongside Donald Glover (Simba) Can You Feel the Love Tonight? Ha, more like, “Can you feel the love... early in the afternoon?” IT IS BROAD DAYLIGHT!! HELLO?!
Speaking of Nala, why... just why is she so grumpy like a cardboard box? She always acts like a self-entitled teenage girl with an attitude. She also has that responsibility-mentality even as a cub all the way into adulthood.
“Simba, is that you? It’s so great to see you after so long! Anyway, let’s get the hell outta here.”
That’s just my paraphrasing of her actual line:
Simba, we need to leave.
(In a serious tone)
Seriously? After so many years thinking he was dead, THAT’S how you talk to him? Additionally, their live-action rendition “Can you feel the love tonight?” felt totally out of nowhere. They suddenly feel in love, and in the next, they are arguing. Nice job making such character consistency, writers. 🤦🏻♂️
4). Timon and Pumbaa were no better. They were okay with their decent lines of dialogue, but they are not as good as some people make them out to be. They’re more... meh for me. Although, I did enjoy that Beauty and the Beast reference they said during that distracting the hyenas scene. Timon sounded like Ewan McGregor’s Lumiere at that moment.
5). Speaking of the hyenas, I was a bit disappointed that Banzai and Ed were not in the film; still, their replacements: Kamari and Azizi were decent. Shenzi though was very menacing as a character. Even though her more serious personality was interesting, I felt that she was underutilized in the movie. If they wanted to make her different, they should have given her more screen time and more development as a secondary antagonist. Their voice actors at least put slightly more effort than the others.
6). Oh, and the CGI was so generic. Why does the landscapes of Africa look so dry and empty? Aren't the African landscapes much more appealing than what this film portrays?
7). I can think of every minor detail that really bothered me while watching the film, but I think I’ve said enough. I give this garbage can a 2/10. This is just a lifeless cash grab from Disney to trigger people’s nostalgia and to gain more money. But hey, at least I can laugh my butt off from Simba’s pathetic meow-scream while Mufasa falls to his death. That was a laugh.
Peace!
Nostalgia Critic pretty much said the same things during his own review of the movie:
Btw, I completely agree with all of your points.
I liked the original one.
I agree with you on this. I was glad that they got James Earl Jones to reprise the role of Mufasa, but compared to his performance in the animated feature...he sounded relatively bored.
But, I don’t agree that the movie would’ve been if the animals weren’t talking. If anything, it would’ve actually made the movie worse.
5428067
Probably, but I’m not saying the movie should have been like that. That wasn’t my point.
My point was that IF they wanted to be more realistic, they either should have the animals talk with more emotion or not talk at all. That’s all.
5428069
Now I see.