A Visual Spectacle - That's About It.

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2019)

The Lion King is possibly the crown jewel of Disney animation, being considered one of, if not the, best in the Disney lineup, and also making nearly $1 billion in 1994, which was unheard of at the time. Given that the remakes have been extremely profitable, having Lion King come up was inevitable. Unlike the others, though, this is practically a shot-by-shot remake of the 1994 movie. The only changes are very slight, with very little being added. Therefore, the story and characters aren't changed at all to any extent. While it's true that there's very little in the way of originality, it's still a great story and these are still the great characters we know and love. After all, the original isn't beloved for no reason.
This movie has one major saving grace: it is also easily one of the most visually impressive movies of all time. It's up there with the likes of Avatar and Life of Pi. The levels of realism put into everything in this movie - the animals, the beautiful landscapes, the plants, everything about it is incredible. The downside is that CGI animals, while they do look fantastic, do not connect to the human audience the way the animated characters do. Take Mufasa's death for instance. In the 1994 movie, it's one of the all-time saddest movie deaths. Here, the emotional impact is largely drained because these lions don't emote the way humans do. That, and we all see it coming. It's partially made up for with the talented voice cast, but it's not enough to save it.
The cast is full of all-stars. Donald Glover is Simba, Beyonce is Nala, and James Earl Jones returns to play Mufasa, which is awesome. The songs are there, for the most part. Circle of Life is great as always, Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Hakuna Matata are classics, and I Just Can't Wait to be King was reinvented, taking out the stuff that only works in a cartoon. Be Prepared got nerfed, which sucks because that song's awesome. There's a new one called Spirit. After all, you don't hire Beyonce just to give her one song, right? Additionally, Hans Zimmer's score, kept from the original, is severely underrated.
Lion King is a movie that I'm glad I saw in theaters, if only for the visual effects. If it doesn't win the Oscar for visual effects, that's a disappointment. I wish I had seen it in IMAX or something like that. Aside from that, it's just the same story we've known and loved for the last 25 years. And, I must admit, having been born in the late 90's, it was pretty cool to see that opening shot on the big screen. After all, these movies are made for 90's and 00's kids as much as today's kids.