Movie Review: The Lion King

Disney continues its string of remakes as the company has now released the 2019 version of The Lion King. Is this new version of the movie an improvement over the 1994 classic?

Well the biggest and most obvious thing to note about the 2019 remake of The Lion King is that the visuals are gorgeous.

The CGI looks realistic as all of the animals look accurate. I dare say that the movie looks photorealistic as sometimes you may think you are watching a nature documentary instead of a movie!

That being said, there are some flaws in the animation as it might be a bit too realistic. In the original film, the characters had expressive facial visuals as their eyes and mouths light up whenever they speak.

Here in the remake, the facial expressions look a little dull. Not to mention it looks really funny whenever a lion tries to sing...

The voice work is also hit and miss like the CGI animation. Well it's great to see James Earl Jones back as Mufasa, some of the other newer voice actors aren't as great as those in the original movie.

Jeremy Irons did a perfect job of voicing Scar in the 1994 original, but sadly in the new movie he has been replaced by Chiwetel Ejiofor.

While Chiwetel Ejiofor does a decent job with the material, his voice is not as scary and imposing as Jeremy Irons' portrayal.

That's not to say the entire new voice cast is bad.

Probably the best new voice actor in the entire movie is Seth Rogen playing Pumbaa. Pumbaa is by far my favorite character in the movie as he's funny and has more facial expressions that all of the lions.

In terms of the story, nothing has been changed in the remake so you are pretty much just watching the same movie, but with a new coat of paint.

This might be seen as a flaw, but I did not mind that this movie is 100% faithful to the original. It would have been weird if any of the major story features would have been changed for no reason whatsoever.

However, if you wanted to see something new in this remake, you're in for a disappointment.

Many of the same shots are in the remake so you aren't really experiencing anything that differs from the original movie. If you want to see something new and original, you're better off watching another movie instead.

All in all, The Lion King 2019 is nothing more than just a safe remake from Disney.

The story is all the same and the only biggest change is the use of CGI in lieu of 2D hand drawn animation. Fans will love it, but those that want something new should look elsewhere.

Verdict: 3.5/5 stars

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