These Disney Remakes Are Getting Worse....

Rating: 1/10 (29 July 2019)

After the torture of sitting through 2019 Aladdin as well as Dumbo, I actually at first refused to see this remake of The Lion King, mostly because the original is a near masterpiece, to many as well as myself, and watching it as a kid religiously, it seemed completely pointless remaking such a fantastic film that hasn't aged a day.
However, as me and my fellow Cineworld card holders have cleared the cinema roster, The Lion King was the only thing on this weekend we hadn't seen. So I sucked it up and caved in and went with my mates. I wish I'd stayed at home.
This is a hollow, bland, dull and completely vapid, shameless cash-grab from Disney. A visually beautiful yet dramatically and emotionally inept movie. The animals look photo real and that's an achievement, but without the expressive faces seen in the original, you can't buy into the drama and emotion. This is a shot for shot remake without the beauty, fun and heart of the 1994 classic.
There's no magic, and that's what Disney prides itself on. The newly added scenes bring nothing but more length to this extremely slow remake. The colour, pop and brightness of the original are nowhere to be seen this time, instead we get a rather sepia looking film, any given David Attenborough documentary has more colour, style and emotion than this film.
The cast are a mixed bag. Donald Glover couldn't be any more boring as older Simba, he sounds like he's either high or falling asleep. Beyonce brings some class to Nala but doesn't get a lot of screen time. Chjwetel Ejiofor who I normally love gave me a headache, and John Oliver is painful to listen to. Keegan-Michael Key feels like he's been stolen from another movie and dumped here and it doesn't work, though Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, surprisingly, did a good job.
There's nothing remarkable about this film bar its visuals. It's just a cold, pointless remake that some will enjoy due to recognising certain shots which will trigger nostalgia. Even the kids in the cinema last night were wondering around bored, distracted and fidgeting, because the film has nothing to offer. Comedy falls flat, emotions are zero and what can be said other than it's just a pale imitation of a beloved classic. Well done Disney on churning out another pile of dung remake that's hit the billion dollar mark.