Scar. Blandness. Loss of magic

Rating: 5/10 (7 August 2019)

Let's start with the great: VISUALS. Like wow. The ear twitches! I just love it.
Now for the bad. Story wise it's the same, I personally don't have a problem with a same storyline but I guess other people might not prefer it.
My no.1 problem is Scar. His appearance is meh but acceptable since the haggard look gives it justice.. it's the voice that's the problem. Nothing against Chiwetel, he's fine in his movies but here though. If you're like me who loves OG Scar's sassy, flamboyant villain voice then Chiwetel sounds dead. He sounds like D movie villains. No emotion except to be butch and deep sounding.. the added short song of Be Prepared was just heartbreaking. I mean even at the beginning of the trailer when he says "Runaway Simba and never return".. it was just like somebody reading their lines. There are of course some good moments where he did sound like a crazy lion which is nice but overall eh.
Next are the song sequence paired with bland facial expressions. Okay I get that they are going for a hyperreal look but seriously? Realistic can also include dream sequences. The Can't Wait To Be King sequence should have been more fun (the va for Simba is spot on btw!). I mean prey are already acting weird around a predator already (ie celebrating Simba's birth) so why not go for broke instead of just choosing some scenes to ground in realism.
The Can You Feel The Love Tonight was also dead. No hate on Beyonce but she basically drowned Donald. Girl stop. This is a duet. No love. No magic. No tumbling down the hill.
They did it right with Timon and Pumba. Even with the real face they paired it with more body excitement so you can actually feel their reactions like the peeter patter of Pumba when they got to keep Simba or when Timon jumped up when he realized Simba's a lion. I mean even dogs and cats have a lot of facial expressions so why would giving lions facial expression be wrong?