Looks awesome but can't repeat the original impact for many reasons

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2019)

Back in the days, Lion King was a huge thing. Not only because it had stars like James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly (HUGE fan here), Rowan Atkinson and Whoopi Goldberg providing their voices for the characters. And not even because it had Elton John as the composer (huge fan here too). It was all those things plus the incredible animation and groundbreaking story full of love and wisdom. It was THE animated movie everybody should see at least once. Even today, it's one of those movies that you can find at pretty much every home around the Globe. It was one of those all time masterpieces that will stay both in history and in our hearts forever. It was one of the essentials. Now here comes the new version. Remake, reboot, call it whatever you want. Can it repeat the impact? Unfortunately, I must say "no". But it's not that simple.
See, animation-wise, the new Lion King is... awesome. No, seriously, I can't help but remember Steve Jobs. If you remember the story behind Monsters, Inc. (check your DVD / Blu-ray extras if you don't), you remember how hard it was for Pixar to bring Sulley to life. His detailed fur that was moving in real time made a huge revolution back in the days. And today, years later, it's pretty much impossible not to remember that when you see all that INCREDIBLY animated fur in Lion King. It's just... WOW. Especially during the rain scenes. The new movie literally brought Africa to life. It's almost like you're watching the documentary. It's THAT realistic and it looks even better in 3D, where every single piece of grass feels as real as it can be.
Unfortunately, there's a huge problem. The problem is - the guys were afraid of experiments. They were so afraid to ruin the original magic that... they pretty much used the old script. That's right, aside from some little details (there'll be a small reference to the Beauty and the Beast, for example), it's the same... exact... thing... And it feels totally wrong. For two reasons. First - it feels pretty boring and kind of... pointless. I mean, come on! Everybody seen the original Lion King for, like, what? A million times now? Many of us saw it even more since they're showing it to their kids now. And seeing the same exact thing all over again... I mean, I know that it was SUPPOSED to be the same thing, but when we're talking about different versions of the same thing, some things MUST be different. That's the point. And it's the differences that make... difference. If you know what I mean. The entire point to watch the alternative version of something is in those differences. Sure, watching something like that in theater is more like an event. It doesn't even matter whether it's good or not. It's just a worldwide event that you don't want to miss. You pick up your friends and family and just watch it. But when it's about watching the movie at home, those differences create the exact reason for you to pick up the alternative version. And unlike the live action reboots, this movie doesn't have a single real actor. Which alone made enough difference. For example, I did re-watch the Beauty and the Beast just because I liked Emma Watson there. This movie? It doesn't even have that. Sure, it allowed to use more money for animation (no actors to pay), but with such a lazy script? It just feels like there's no reason for all that. Did you see those fan videos based on video games on YouTube? When fans take the parts of popular old games and re-create them with modern game engines? That's exactly how this movie feels. When you buy Ocarina of Time on 3DS, you buy it for the brand new quest. Not because it looks better and has 3D. Without the new quest, it's just the same ol' Zelda. Same exact experience. Same here. There's nothing REALLY new here. Nothing new to experience. And that's a problem.
Another reason why this movie feels wrong is that... OK, let's just admit it, the original script was made for the funny cartoon characters. And this movie? It's WAY too realistic for it (like I've said, it's almost like you're watching the Discovery Channel). The original Lion King had A LOT of scenes that felt absolutely awesome and were incredibly funny exactly BECAUSE they had those funny cartoon characters. The characters who weren't realistic AT ALL. And I can't even say that the new movie has bad design. Quite the opposite, the design is pretty awesome. It's just... it doesn't work with this kind script. Imagine Tom & Jerry movie with the real cat and mouse. It just doesn't work that way. Tom & Jerry cartoons were so incredibly fun because they had toons. Toons that didn't even look like real animals, but were so... incredibly... fun... That's exactly what's wrong with the new Lion King. And the saddest thing is - it was incredibly easy to fix. All they needed is to fully re-work the script. To make the funny parts fit the realistic approach, etc. Unfortunately, they were too afraid of that. As the result... a HUGE portion of the original charm disappeared. Show this movie to a kid who never saw the original... and he / she probably won't even understand why people love the original Lion King so much. Sad. But true.
So, like I've said, the new movie just can't repeat the success of the original. It doesn't have the impact. The story is still good? Sure, but it's an ages old story that everybody saw at least once. Seeing the same old thing all over again with no new content or serious alternations is just... boring. Everybody's favorite characters are still there and Mufasa even keeps his old voice? Sure, but the old jokes just don't work with the new kind of animation. Incredible animal animation? Well, aside from the music (Elton John is still here and there's even Beyoncé herself, who also provides her voice for Nala), animation is pretty much the only reason to see this movie. Because yes, it looks incredible. But honestly, even though I'm a HUGE fan of the original Lion King... I'm not even sure I want to add the new movie to my collection. I saw it in theater the day one, it was an eye candy, but if I'll ever want to experience Lion King again, I'll just dust off my old Lion King blu-ray. I can't say I hate the new movie, or something like that. I can't even say that it's bad. It's just... a less exciting version of the old masterpiece. Something you see once and never want to see again.