Falls short of the hype; poorly-paced, lacking in proper emotional investment and, sometimes, quite dull.

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2018)

Often heralded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time - if not the greatest, 'The Lion King (1994)' is a feast for the eyes on multiple occasions but is, for me at least, far from the best in its genre and is actually a rather average affair due to an 'epic'-seeming (though Shakespeare-'stolen') but poorly-paced plot and a lack of emotional investment, aside from in the film's most famous of moments, which tap into a mostly universal connection - and fear - and don't rely on any actual developed characters. The songs, too, are often out-of-place and serve to tell instead of show, or do a combination of the two, and they tend to point out the flaws in the narrative more than gloss over them, though most are enjoyable to listen to in-the-moment and all are well-produced. It really is the lack of a real connection, however, perpetuated by a poor through-line and pace, that makes this one fall short of the pedestal upon which it has been placed. It didn't connect with me and I found a large portion of the piece quite dull, making for a passive affair that didn't live up to the hype or even keep me wholly engaged for its duration. 5/10