Visually astonishing, but that is essentially it...

Rating: 5/10 (14 October 2019)

This 2019 "live action" rendering of the classic Disney animated story "The Lion King" is wholly unnecessary and it is simply just a fan pleaser and a cash in on the golden age of animation.
While the CGI in this 2019 Disney movie by all means is phenomenal, that is essentially the entire movie summarized; a grand CGI experience. Why? Well, because we are already familiar with the story from the 1994 animated movie, and it wasn't a movie that was in anyway needing a remake, not even by turning into a CGI adventure.
I wanted to like the movie, I really did, but it was so hard to delve into it, especially when you have seen the 1994 animated movie and loved it for what it was. So this was sort of a slap in the face from Disney, with their recent obsession of turning old classic animated movies into "live action" movies. It is just beyond my comprehension, but hey, money does put food on the table and make the Disney world go round.
They did have a good ensemble of voice actors to perform the various roles and characters in the movie, no doubt about it. But again, why meddle with something that was already good back in 1994?
Sure, this movie appeals to newcomers whom aren't already familiar with the 1994 animated movie, and I can see why it would be popular, of course, because this was a spectacular beautiful movie. But CGI only does so much for a movie, in my opinion.
Since this 2019 remake is fully unnecessary, then I am rating "The Lion King" a mere five out of ten stars.