Wasted Potential

Rating: 4/10 (18 July 2019)

I am heartbroken. It pain me as a HUGE disney fan to bomb this title.
I went to watch "The Lion King", not reality king. Look, I truly appreciate the effort and the visual "oh-god-oh-yes-so-real" hyper realistic scenes. In fact, all 4 stars possibly shine from this aspect itself.
However, I can't help but feel flat. Not as in 2D flat, but the way the story moves, pacing and all, it felt so flat emotionally. There's this gap, a disconnect between the outlandish 3D environment, the forced natural animal look, and the synchronicity of using dub/ voice casting. This in turn caused all the creative fun, emotion, and soul found in the original adaptation to lost in the wilderness.
Ironically, the CG used in Scar and team Hyena looks much more convincing whereas the lions counterpart feels like they're constantly tired of being dragged and jumping all around with no purpose. Truly such a shame. If you were over 25 years old and absolutely still wanted to watch this movie, try to imagine the playful, energic Simba/Pumba/Timon/etc side by side while indulging in the breathtaking scenery occasionally
However, I kind of disagree with the 1 star "pointless attempt" rating. I believed marvelous technological advancement helped in giving a new modern look suited for the age it is released. I loved the "live action" Beauty and the Beast, the recently released Aladdin,, and even hyped for the new Maleficent movie. BUT, the 2019 Lion King just happened to be in the F category.