Honest Review From The #1 Lion King Snob On The Planet

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2019)

Let me start off saying that I have been THE Lion King girl since I was 7 years old back in 1994. I will gladly argue with anyone that says they are a larger fan than I am, and I am about the biggest snot around when it comes to ANYTHING Lion King. This is all coming from the girl so disgusted with the Hakuna Matata merchandise for using Mufasa's silhouette all the time I'm constantly sending complaint messages to Disney.
This movie was everything.
It was real. It was breathtaking. It was gorgeous, and it was perfect.
If anyone - and I mean anyone - was going to have a problem with this movie, it would have been me. I have been having trouble sleeping the week before release worrying about if I was going to leave that theater upset and disappointed that the most important movie of my lifetime was destroyed.
No. I left wanting to turn right back around and go in.
Favreau did a MAGNIFICENT job of keeping the true spirit of the movie alive, while "growing it up" a bit. From the opening scene where "NANTS IGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA!" was NOT altered, to the last moment where Mufasa says "Remember" to Simba as he takes his place - it kept true to The Lion King.
Minor differences did not bother me. Am I a bit bummed that the Be Prepared song was shortened? Absolutely. But is that worth me hating the entire movie? Absolutely not. In my opinion, it fit - and made Scar sound more evil than the animated version. Other notable differences were Rafiki not saying his well-known "Asante Sana" chant at any point in the movie. Again, no big deal. We also didn't have Zazu in a cage of bones singing Small World....and again that's fine. Two of the hyena's names were changed, but that is unknown unless you've seen the movie and know the others. Only Shenzi's name is spoken anyway.
The realism blows my absolute mind. From the blades of grass blowing in the wind to every hair on the lions mane moving around I honestly could not tell that I wasn't just watching a real documentary where animals have ACTUALLY learned to speak. With that being said, Mufasa's death was terribly hard to watch. I was choking on tears. If you thought the animated version was hard, you just wait.
Timon and Pumba were absolutely adorable. Loved the ad lib between the two. The "Lion Sleeps Tonight" sequence may have been my new favorite part of the film thanks to that bush baby. Fantastic casting on both parts. Be Our Guest, anyone? ;)
THANK YOU Hans Zimmer for updating the soundtrack and not completely overhauling the music. It was captivating hearing those scores over this new version in the theater. My heart skipped many beats.
I am so disgusted reading the articles that the critics have posted that I could cry.
"It's too real." Are you kidding me? That's a literal, actual sick joke right? IT'S SUPPOSED TO FEEL REAL. It would look absolutely stupid if REAL lions were flipping around on the backs of giraffes and rhinos and were jumping on tree vines into the water. PLEASE shut up with that comment, it makes my head hurt.
"It's too much like the original and doesn't branch out enough"
Again. You're making my head hurt with this mess. I'm GLAD it didn't. We didn't need a million miles of unnecessary back-story or side-story like Beauty and The Beast did, which I thought was a complete failure. Sue me. I personally loved seeing how Nala left Pride Rock. THAT was a good piece of side story.
If you don't read any other review, I beg you to please - go see this movie. Don't let people who have obviously allowed magic to leave their minds ruin a film that is breathtaking and honors the original very well.
John Favreau, wherever you are, this Lion King snob salutes you.