Not A Patch On The Original

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2019)

The Lion King
This remake of Lion King had some good things in it but it just did not surpass the cartoon version. The main problem was in a cartoon we can accept singing and dancing animals, however in a real setting this just doesn't work, it's weird and freaky. Stop motion capture is a very different medium and needs a different approach, any idiot could deduce this and yet they went ahead with this project.
What was good;
1, the animation was faultless as was the 3D, the detail and naturalness of the movements was just perfection.
2, some of the voices were perfectly cast, Simba, Scar and Mufasa spring to mind.
What was problematic;
1, the music was at time just too epic in a kind of revrential or even religious way.
2, the key song "can you feel the love tonight", the movies apotheosis was just mangled, what were they thinking, not a patch on the Elton John version.
3, adult Nala was wrong on every level, all the vocal inflections were exaggerated and she was so critical, judgemental and downbeat this grated.
4, Pumbaa, played by Seth Rogan was meant to be funny but most jokes were delivered sardonically, he was miscast in this role.
5, the script had been manipulated to be more PC and appeal to wholesome liberal snowflakes and their children. The Lion King has its roots in the duplicity of Shakespeare's Hamlet don't sanitise perfection.