The lion king

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2019)

The lion king
2019
PG
director:John Favreu
starring: Donald Glover,James Earl Jones,Beyonce,Chiwetal Ejiofer,Seth Rogen,Bill Eichner,John Oliver,John Kani,Alfre Woodard,Jd Mccrary,Shahadi Wright joseph,Eric Andre,Keegan Michael Key and Florence Kasumba etc
overall rating 99/100
The lion king is Disneys latest offering of live action remakes. And is based on a young cub called Simba preparing to be king of the pride lands with the advice and wisdom of his father Mufasa. However after mufasas evil brother scar kills him Simba runs away and Scar rules. And simba is left with a tough decision weather to stay in relaxation with Timon and Pumba or fight for his rightful place as king.wow the lion king remake was a true visionary masterpiece lets talk about why this is.
Lets start with the fantastic soundtrack. Every single time a song came on it gave me goosebumps. Yes nostalgia was a big part of this film but it just worked. They changed some of the songs to make them catchier and make a lot more sense whilst watching and all the voice actors did fantastic jobs with all the songs and not one was badly done at all. Some of the songs like be prepared were shortened but still very much a part of the film and Beyonces song also fitted perfectly into the film as well. And i loved how they added more layers to the songs by adding extra vocals or extra animals just to make it more fun. And i loved how they made a large majority of songs more African inspired which i thought fitted in really well and added to the thematic richness of the film. This was also done in Aladdin with the more Arabian and Egyptian themes and tones which they incorporated into the soundtrack and set pieces.
Next the films CGI visuals and aesthetics were absolutely incredible and revolutionary in what studios can achieve. every single animal and set piece looked real it confused me at how real everything looked and yet none of it was real. I was just sitting in awe at how beautiful everything looked in many scenes. This is a really big step forward into what people can achieve with visual effects it should get awards.
Next i loved the new scenes that they added and more character depth and development was used for some characters that perhaps weren't used enough in the original film. Yes a few scenes were cut involving Rafiki and some involving Timon and pumbaa but in my opinion they still kept plenty of the visuals and script from the original but added a new flavour to everything from the original. Whether it was new songs things added to songs or slightly changing how scenes looked it all still worked. And i loved how they added more of a character arc to Sarabi and Shenzi. Sarabi had much more of a known presence within this film and they went into more detail about her unwillingness to be with scar but yet still wanting to protect her pride. And what they did with Shenzi was fantastic. They made her more of a intimidating presence and the leader of the hyenas it really suited her character. And all of these extra scenes also added to the entertainment value of the final act. Instead of just having Scar and Simba fighting it out which was still a lot of fun to see. They added more action with the lionesses with Sarabi and Nala leading them. This just made the final act even more fun to watch especially with the fight sequence between Nala and Shenzi.
Now the only slight little nitpick that i can think off is that due to the photo realism on all the animals faces. There acting and facial expressions were slightly more limited. This only slightly effected some scenes where Young simba and other characters could not emote there feelings as much as the original for example the stampede scene. However the emotion was shown more in there voices so therefore this was hardly an issue for me just a observation.
Now ending on my last few positives. Firstly the voice acting in this was incredible. When i heard that apart from Mufasa ( James Earl Jones) they were getting completely different voice actors i was admittedly very nervous. But i have to say every single person knocked it out of the park. There was not one single weak link and all the voice actors sounded fairly similar to the original characters but with there own twist on them still happening. Everyones singing was on par as well which was great. However my key standouts for me would be JD mccrary as young simba who captured the mischievous and energetic energy of the young simba of the original and sounding surprisingly similar as well. But the main star of the film for me would be Chiwetal Ejiofer as Scar. He was just fantastic here. With Scars character design and Chiwetals intimidating voice it really made Scar even more intimidating and dislikable on screen.
And my final two positives,firstly they added more humour into the film which was great considering the original was already funny. The main source of laughter came from Seth Rogen and Bill Eichner as Timon and pumba but also John Oliver as Zazu. As well as keeping the same jokes and humorous tone as the original. They also added more funny one liners for Timon pumbaa and zazu. Whether it was joking about woodpeckers or adding a beauty and the beast sequence there was many belly laughs for all the family. And Seth Rogen and Bill Eichners comedic chemistry was great and they really bounced off each other with the one liners about Simba which was great.
And finally most importantly the film captured the same emotional weight as the original. I think nostalgia plays a key role here. Whenever any song came on it gave me goosebumps. It also captured the emotions of mufasas death very well as well. And the most iconic part at the end where simba crowns himself as king on pride rock gave me chills maybe even more then the original so this was executed perfectly.
Overall the lion king is a revolutionary achievement for disney who keep proving that they are the rulers of the film industry. With there strongest live action remake and the remake that i consider to be better then the original.