The critics are crazy!!! Best live-action Disney remake yet!!

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2019)

Let's get one thing out of the way: the original animated Lion King is a masterpiece in every way. Nothing will ever "top" it. Nothing. Ever. Having said that, that is not the purpose of this live-action remake. The intention is simply to retell the beloved story in a way we've never seen it before: with "real" animals, or as remarkably close to it as modern technology allows. If you go into this movie with that purpose in mind, you will love it!
Some viewers may be weirded out by seeing nature-documentary-realistic animals talking and singing. Suspension of disbelief aside, I personally was blown away by how true-to-life it all looked, and I feel privileged to live in an era that this level of technological achievement is even possible.
Some complain about a lack of emotion in the characters. First of all, I didn't experience that at all. I laughed AND cried (in the appropriate moments), thought the music was flawless, and thought the voice actors did marvelous work conveying the emotions of their characters. Secondly, since these are meant to look like REAL animals, they *obviously* won't have the complex facial muscles that humans use to express emotions, or the flexibility of cartoon drawings. Despite these reasonable limitations, I thought the film did a superb job making me feel all the things it intended to.
Bottom line: if you go into this film understanding and appreciating what it is setting out to do, then you will love it. I thought it told the beloved Lion King story with live-action perfection! No, it doesn't top the original, but it doesn't need to. It's a masterpiece of its own, and I have nothing but praise for it! Go see it for yourself!