Missing the Soul of the Original

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2019)

Children will like this movie. Adults may have a hard time with it. Obviously the biggest downfall of this film was the fact that it didn't deviate enough from the original. Did the director truly believe that it was a good idea to make a carbon copy of the original? Apparently yes. Did Scar deliver a fine performance? The actor did okay, but the problem is the audience is accustomed to Scar's lines being delivered differently. Maybe if the director would have made a total different characterization of Scar, the movie would have been better. Why was Beyoncé in this film? Who knows. Her version of Nala contributed nothing to the story itself. Why was Donald Glover casted? Because he is black and hip. And I'm a black woman saying this. The voice actors' skin color did not matter! Lions are neither black or white. They are lions, which makes the decision to cast Beyoncé and Donald Glover even more frustrating! I don't see how any director can sacrifice great voice acting because of race (especially since the race isn't important to the story). Jeremy Irons should have been brought back. End of discussion.
On another note, young Simba was fine until the death scene. The crying sounded a bit fake, but he was okay in the film despite this. Young Nala was excellent. Timon and Pumba are almost as good as the original actors. James Earl Jones is great too. The hyenas have some nice characterization as well.
I will also say that the Afrocentric aspect was lost in this film despite the fact that the cast was mostly black. There weren't enough African drums and rhythms in this remake. Honestly, the original captured Africa better than the remake. I would have loved to see Ryan Coogler's interpretation of the Lion King instead of this lifeless Afrocentric interpretation. Overall, the original Lion King was gorgeous (despite the fact that it was plagiarism) and the remake is only impressive on a technical level.