Childhood film spat on

Rating: 1/10 (6 August 2019)

Jesus christ. I watched the original film when I was a child practically every week. I loved the music, the comedy, the drama. Just saw the remake. The music had been twisted to the point it was unrecognisable, with unnecessary key changes and over-dramatic flourishes, with the iconic song 'Be Prepared' sounding like nothing more than a half hearted poetry slam artist with a sore throat. The comedy was simple - they took a joke that was in the original film and ran with it until it literally wasn't funny anymore, until it dragged the initial smile off my face itself. Fart jokes and Timon putting Pumba down. Hilarious, I'm sure. Just not for me, or anyone else in my theatre judging by the stony silence that followed. The drama too, had been ruined. The tension interrupted by silly additions, like new jungle characters that did not exist in the original and contributed little, if anything, to the story. They dumbed it down and commercialised it, the capitalism of the film industry distorting an important and touching story into something I would never watch again. It was even painful in some places, and lacked any emotional levity that was in the original. Mufasa's death scene, which had made me cry like a baby in the past with the original, now felt stale and brief. Brushed off, even. Would not recommend to any fan of the original, or any fan of decent cinema. I don't doubt the talent of the voice actors, but I'm doubting the amount of effort put into their lines. They sounded like they were just reading off the script and relying to heavily on the VFX to bring their characters to life, which it did not. There are limitations to the range of emotions that the hyperrealistic lions could display, and this directly impacted the film. I could no longer sympathise with the characters, let alone empathise. Just very disappointing.