The Lion King (2019) Review: Can I Feel the Love Tonight? Not really, but I Can Feel the *Like* Tonight

Remember a while back when I wrote about how I was vehemently against the “live action“ Lion King remake? And remember how I was against the live action Christopher Robin movie? Well, for the latter, I was proven wrong, as Christopher Robin ended up being one of my favorite movies last year. As for the former? Well, I didn’t hate Disney’s remake of my favorite movie of all time, but I also didn’t love it. At the moment, I’d say that I liked it well enough, but if I had a choice to watch this new one or the 1994 classic, there’s no contest: The Lion King (1994) is the one true king.

***If you don’t know the story of The Lion King, I am so sorry. Stop reading this review and go watch the 1994 classic that brought home 2 Academy Awards and continues to delight people of all ages the world over. Also, I’m about to spoil the entire movie. You have been warned.***

Before I get into the issues I had with this movie, it’s only fair that I highlight what I liked about the movie. First of all, director Jon Favreau takes the performance capture technology he used to make The Jungle Book and perfects it here; these animals look like real animals. Moreover, the landscapes are beautifully rendered, making you feel like you were dropped in the middle of the African savannah. Second of all, Timon and Pumbaa are pretty darn funny in this film; they’re no Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, but Bill Eichner and Seth Rogen do an admirable job as my favorite meerkat/warthog duo. Third, I liked the fact that Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) was given more to do in this movie, at least in terms of what went on with her and the rest of the pride between Mufasa’s death and Simba’s return. Fourth, hearing James Earl Jones as Mufasa is, and always will be, a treat; in this iteration, Mufasa sounds like an older king, who has wisdom to match his strength. Finally, and this should come as no surprise, the music is phenomenal, as it was in 1994. Hans Zimmer returns to the score that earned him an Academy Award, while Elton John, Tim Rice, and Lebo M return with the songs that garnered The Lion King several Oscar nominations and one win. In addition to John, Rice, and Lebo M, Beyoncé joins the songwriting team of this iteration of The Lion King, adding the song “Spirit,” which plays as Simba and Nala return to the Pride Lands. It’s a good enough song that fits in well enough with the film’s overall soundtrack, worthy of note while also not sticking out like a sore thumb.

Now, what problems did I have with this movie? One of the glaring problems is that photorealistic animals do not express emotion the same way that hand-drawn animated animals do; while the animals in this movie look incredibly lifelike, they don’t invoke the same emotions as their animated counterparts. There is some motion in the characters’ mouths, but the emotion is not carried up into their eyes. This isn’t helped by the fact that some of the dialogue is delivered flatly; not all of the dialogue is that way, but a lot of the key dialogue is. Eichner and Rogen avoid this, and Donald Glover as adult Simba has some good moments, but several of the other main actors don’t put enough emotion into their performances. In terms of the characters and performances, one returning character who is tragically sidelined is Rafiki (John Kani); the wise mandrill shaman from the original has fewer lines than in the original, and he doesn’t command the same presence as he did in 1994. While the 1994 version could be wise and comical in equal measures, the 2019 version really plays into the wise shaman role, to the detriment of the character’s impact.

I said before that the music was excellent, which it is. However, as someone who listens to The Lion King soundtrack once a month at a bare minimum, to me, it felt like a lot of the songs in the movie were just taking the tracks from the original soundtrack and laying the new lead vocals on top. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as many of the new lead actors are competent singers; it might just be a distracting thing to Lion King super fans such as myself. One thing that will most likely cause a lot of fans, even casual ones, to stop and take notice, is the extremely cut down rendition of “Be Prepared,” one of the most iconic modern Disney villain songs. It’s barely sung and barely 2 minutes long. I understand, to a degree, why Disney might not want a live action interpretation of the song, but it’s such an iconic part of the soundtrack that its reduction is a noticeable weak point. In addition, the use of the old soundtrack means that there are beats from the old movie that they miss in this version. The most notable example of this is when Simba roars at the end of the film to claim his rightful place as king; the music is still swelling when he lets out his first roar, which feels a bit like the characters interrupting the soundtrack. It’s a small nitpick, honestly, but it’s something that I noticed, so I thought I’d bring it up.

And despite what Favreau was saying going into this movie, except for a few added scenes, this is a shot for shot remake of the 1994 classic. This is most apparent in the opening scene, which is essentially a shot for shot remake of the classic Circle of Life segment. I understand why they didn’t make many changes to this sequence, because you’re not going to be able to improve on the brilliance of that scene, but it was so blatant in its remaking of the scene that it became distracting.

But I think my biggest problem with this “live action” adaptation of The Lion King is the scale. When I was a kid and I saw the 1994 version of the film, everything felt massive; Pride Rock, the Pride Lands, the Elephant Graveyard, the gorge, the stampede, Timon and Pumbaa’s oasis. Everything felt grand and larger than life. With this version, however, everything feels small; I mean, Pride Rock is still impressive, and Timon and Pumbaa’s oasis is still breathtaking, but it doesn’t have that same sense of wonderment that I had when I saw it when I was a kid. I think the most glaring example of this problem is during the stampede. It was difficult enough remembering when I first saw the death of Mufasa, but this version just felt … less. The stampede of wildebeest felt more like a race or a casual run rather than an uncontrollable tsunami of horns and hooves barreling toward a young prince, with his father sacrificing his life for his son’s. Most importantly, in the animated film, when Mufasa fell to his death, it looked like a fall from 100 feet or more; in the live action version, it looks like maybe 20 feet. I might’ve just seen it wrong, but when recreating one of the most traumatizing Disney deaths in history, you’re not supposed to make it seem smaller.

I know that for much of this review, I have been comparing this photo realistic remake to the 1994 animated film on which it was based. I know that that might not seem fair, to compare a film with the original source material; however, when a film does so little to differentiate itself from the film that came before it, and just makes me want to go home and watch the original film on repeat, it’s like the universe is begging me to compare these two films. Is The Lion King (2019) a bad film? No. Is it up to the same caliber as the 1994 classic? Absolutely not. Is there anything harmful or offensive about it? Not at all. If anything, I hope that this film will encourage people to revisit the movie that holds a special place in my heart. If you just want to hear the music of The Lion King in theaters once again, or if you’re looking to escape into the air-conditioned splendor of a movie theater during a major heatwave, the 2019 photo realistic adaptation of The Lion King is harmless enough. I’m not overly disappointed with this movie, because we still have the 1994 film to look back on with fondness. The original film still retains its place in the Circle of Life, so Hakuna Matata.

The Sack Score: 6/10