Just one word... WOW!!!

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2019)

This film gave me chills all over. If anyone says this film is a one-for-one shot remake of the original they are either lying or can't remember the 1994 film. As a huge fan of the original I should know. Overall this is the same story but with scenes that have been extented and completely new ones, enough to make you satisfied.
The entire cast did a wonderful job here, including Beyonce. I was afraid that her, Danny Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Nala, Simba and Scar wouldn't be able to sell it but they did. James Earl Jones as Mufasa nailed it as always and Timon and Pumba actually managed to squeeze more laughs out of me than they did in the original.
Visually this is simply a masterpiece in its own right and it doesn't hurt that it has a wonderful soundtrack to back it up with. The scenes are so beautifully crafted that you can't help but smile while taking it all in.
When Mufasa died I didn't really think it would affect me that much since I have already seen him die once before but the way they shot this scene along with the music and JD McCrary's performance as a young Simba had me taken by surprise... I actually shed tears... and I was wearing 3D glasses watching this and really didn't want to remove them to pad my eyes.
If I have to nitpick this film I would probably have wished that it was a little longer than 2 hours, especially the last half. But that half is already longer than the original so I can't really complain to much here.
So if you feel like reliving your childhood memories of the original with additional content or simply want to watch a movie with great visuals, story and humor... go watch this.