A Visual Groundbreaking Cinematic Achievement and An Emotional Roller Coaster Ride!!!

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2019)

DISCLAIMER: This is only my second review here and to the trolls I am not being paid to write this review this is my true and honest opinion so on to the review.
Let's start from the beginning The Lion King is one of Disney's most iconic films. It's a movie that I grew up with so when I heard that they were remaking it I was very nervous. Then I heard Jon Favereau was on board and he created The Jungle Book which I enjoyed very much he created a photo realistic environment in which I could totally believe in the world that he created along with its characters. When I heard that the same technology would be applied to The Lion King I was very excited to see what could be done. Walking to the cinema I didn't quite know what to think but as soon as the Circle of Life started and we saw the sweeping shots over the African Savannah I was immediately sent to tears as I gazed on the jaw dropping beauty that Jon Favereau had created. It's a technical crowning achievement very ground breaking using VR and motion capture technology. I almost wondered is this is how the audience in 1937 felt when they saw Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs in awe of something that they never thought would be possible. The stunning photo realism is something really to behold it when comes to the realism of the animals right down to every last inch of fur or whether it's the sweeping shots of the African Savannah. Never have we seen Africa depicted in such a beautiful way on camera. This is something I salivate over films that push the boundaries of technical achievement and what we can do in the world of special effects and our ability to create new worlds. The world of The Lion King is the most perfect thing to use this technology on especially since it's mostly untested. The story is still as powerful and is potent as ever I laughed and I cried. I see criticism that there is no emotion in this film and I must disagree on many levels while they do not have human facial emotions as they do in the traditional animated film you can see the emotion in their eyes and in their body movement these animals show emotion as they do in real life anybody who has seen a nature documentary or has studied these animals would be able to read the emotions of these characters quite easily. There going for realism here. To me it makes it all more emotional to see real animals go through such traumatic experiences whether its a lion being thrown off a cliff to his violent death or a lion cub lying down next to the deceased body of this father. I cried at Mufasa death I haven't cried that hard since my friends funeral last August. The emotion conveyed in Simba's eyes, body language and voice so powerful. I never cried at the original but it was the stunning photo realism that made it all the more powerful for me. No he does not show tears but that's because real lions don't have tears but the emotion is there. This is not a cartoon this time. Let's talk about the voice cast. The cast in this film is truly remarkable first of all we have James Earl Jones returning to the role of Mufasa and he is excellent as usual. He still a wise and caring ruler. Chiwetel Ejiofor is truly remarkable as Scar it's very different from Jeremy Irons but that's a good thing I think because in this version he is more menacing and scary. In some ways I enjoyed this version of the character more because of how truly frightening I felt he was. Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan steal the show as Timon and Pumba as so many other reviews have said because its true they bring so much warmth and comedy to the film an offer a lot of the inside and meta jokes that only true fans could truly appreciate. There is Beyoncé and Donald Glover who I thought were very good in there respected roles. Donald Glover played a good adult Simba and Beyoncé did fairly okay in her part as well even if she could feel a little to Beyoncé at times. There rendition of Can You Feel The Love tonight is truly powerful. Speaking of the music Hans Zimmer score is brilliant once again how the background score brings an extra layer of emotion that carries you through the story. All of the songs are so well handled such as a Hakuna Matata, I Just Can't Wait To Be King and the Circle of Life. Be Prepared is also in this movie but the song has been rewritten and shortened and it's much more darker and sinister and I really love it as I think it fits this version of the character of Scar and matches the tone of the movie which is a bit darker and more serious than the original. I also added a bit of extra layers to the story they add a bit of a back story with Scar hinting at the fact that Sarabi may have chosen Mufasa over him and he still feels a bit of resentment from that. She shows herself to be a strong queen after Mufasa's death as she rejects Scar to be his queen. The hyena's are another great example in original the hyenas were played for laughs they were depicted as stupid and unintelligent and while I really love to that in the cartoon in this photo realistic aesthetic I don't think it would have worked cause hyenas in real life are actually intelligent and the females truly are the leaders of the hyena packs. Shenzi is a strong fierce and scary and the two male hyenas have a blend of menace and comedy which is a good balance. These additions really work I think. There so much more I could talk about in this jaw dropping adaptation of The Lion King but I think I have covered all of the important points. I think it's very true to the original movie while offering up enough changes to make it feel fresh so it's definitely not a shot by shot word for word remake as some have suggested. I understand why this movie may not work for some people. I know some people feel it's too similar or two different or that this movie doesn't work being told with such photo realism but I think Jon is a really great film maker and really passionate about his movies and really wants to make his movies to be good and I can tell that he really cared about The Lion King and really wanted it to live up to the original. This was bound to get a strong reactions and divide fans because of the nature of what this movie is it's just part of the territory there's not a lot you can do about it. I do think the film was very well handled and was very good considering the nature of what it is and I think that they did the best job that they could do. This is my honest opinion I know that not everyone will agree but this is how I feel. I just try to judge the film on its own merits without comparing it to the original and to give a true honest review. This film was truly an emotional experience for me that I will never forget it really changed now I think about cinema and how we can tell stories. I think this movie really set the bar and really changed the game. I don't think movies will be made the same and I think paves the way for a different way to tell stories and to create worlds we have never seen. I give this film an outstanding 9 out of 10.