{"id":43934,"date":"2019-07-22T11:58:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=43934"},"modified":"2019-07-22T11:58:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:58:39","slug":"the-lion-king-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/07\/the-lion-king-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lion King \u2013 Movie review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Bob Garver<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            It\u2019s\ntime for the latest entry into the trend of Disney live-action remakes, and\nthis week we have a doozie. 1994\u2019s \u201cThe Lion King\u201d is one of the most beloved\nand successful 2D animated movies of all time. I was 8 years old when that\nmovie came out \u2013 right in the target demographic, not that I feel you\u2019re ever\ntoo old to love it. And love it I did, watching the film and listening to its\nsoundtrack to my heart\u2019s content and my mom\u2019s insanity. It is a film with a\nspecial place in my heart, and now Disney wants to add to that legacy by\ncomplementing the classic with a remake using new \u201crealistic\u201d CGI technology. At\nleast, that\u2019s what the goal of the remake is supposed to be. In actuality, the\nfilm is so creatively unambitious that I doubt living up to any sort of\nexpectation was ever seriously considered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            I\u2019ll\ngive a short recap of the story, though most people know it: Young lion prince\nSimba (JD McCrary) looks forward to inheriting the animal kingdom from his wise\nfather Mufasa (James Earl Jones, once again voicing the imposing patriarch).\nHis jealous uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) kills Mufasa and convinces Simba that\nhe\u2019s responsible (a plot point that frankly I find a stretch in both versions)\nand sends him into exile where he lives a carefree life with meerkat Timon\n(Billy Eichner) and warthog Pumbaa (Seth Rogen). Years later, Simba (now voiced\nby Donald Glover) is discovered by childhood friend Nala (Beyonce\nKnowles-Carter), who wants him to return and reclaim the throne from the\ntyrannical Scar. The problem is that this would mean admitting to his role in\nhis father\u2019s death, which would devastate his mother Sarabi (Alfre Woodard). It\ntakes an encounter with mystic monkey Rafiki (John Kani) to convince Simba to\ngo back and fight for the kingdom, even if it means taking responsibility for\nhis past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            At\nfirst it looks like this movie might go well, with a lively recreation of the\niconic \u201cCircle of Life\u201d opening admittedly nailed with the new technology. Then\nthe characters start talking and the problems begin. To be clear, my problem is\nnot with the talking itself, I do not share the popular opinion that the animals\u2019\ntalking in this movie looks phony or creepy, I actually do think the technology\nis \u201cthere.\u201d No, my problem is with the way the characters talk, with almost\nevery line being a regurgitation of the 1994 script, except with less feeling. Scar,\nin particular seems neutered. The animated version is one of the most\nterrifying, charismatic presences in Disney history and this version just\nseems\u2026lazy. If the plot didn\u2019t require it, I\u2019d say he didn\u2019t want the throne\nthat badly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            And\nso it goes, beat for inferior beat. About the only thing this movie does\ndifferently from a storytelling perspective is slightly expanded parts for\nSarabi and Nala, with a new Beyonce song thrown in. I can appreciate this movie\nnot wanting to waste the talents of Mrs. Carter, though the downside is that I\ncan\u2019t help but wonder why the strong, independent Nala needs wimpy Simba to\ntake care of wimpy Scar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Simply\nput, this new \u201cLion King\u201d is a movie that never should have been made. When the\ndialogue and action aren\u2019t being boringly repetitive, they\u2019re falling short of\nthe original. The more \u201crealistic\u201d characters can\u2019t move or express themselves\nin the way they need to, and the voice acting isn\u2019t doing the film any favors\n(save for holdover Jones, Beyonce, and surprisingly, the piping youngsters). Also,\nthere\u2019s a lot of unfunny fourth-wall breaking with Timon and Pumbaa. There\u2019s a\npoint in the \u201cHakuna Matata\u201d musical number where I think Eichner botched a cue\nand they just left it in the movie. Even if it was intentional, it isn\u2019t funny.\nI hold Disney to a higher standard than making me wonder if what I\u2019m watching\nis incompetence or just a bad decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade: C-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lion King\u201d is rated PG for\nsequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements. Its running time\nis 118 minutes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bob Garver             It\u2019s time for the latest entry into the trend of Disney live-action remakes, and this week we have a doozie. 1994\u2019s \u201cThe Lion King\u201d is one… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":43935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}