Falls Short

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2019)

I just got out of the Lion King
And I have to say it falls short of delivering for me. Elements of this new version are spectacular because of the quality of animation... But so much else was just mediocre... Starting with the poor voice talent. My favorite animated movies are brought to life by memorable distinctive voices... I loved what Burt Reynolds brought to All Dogs Go To Heaven, then Robin Williams set the bar with Aladdin, then we have Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Mike Myers, then Eddie Murphy... The list is long but those films wouldn't have been the same without those voices. This new Lion King film has none of that... it's all just so flat.
About 80% of this, is shot for shot/word for word the same as the 1994 classic. Although there is a subplot involving Scar and Sarabi from the Broadway show inserted.
My next issue was the soundtrack... Again, there is nothing special here. The 1994 soundtrack was one of the all-time best. I hated BeyoncÃ© singing Can You Feel The Love Tonight. I am not a fan of hers anyway, and her appeal is totally lost on me, but I can acknowledge when she is good as in Goldmember.
Finally, and my biggest issue... The realistic non-expressions of the animals. Because you can't see happy or sad in their faces, you fully depend on the mediocre delivery of dialog. This was very distracting. The lion's faces do not show sad... happy... scared. This was like watching a two hour voice over.
I found it less entertaining and engrossing than Aladdin and Dumbo, although at times I did enjoy this movie. I can safely say I will never watch it again, and will stick with my 1994 classic, So for me, this was just a mediocre unnecessary remake while showcasing perhaps the greatBest animation ever.