An edgier tale

Disney reboot feels more like ‘Hamlet’ this time

From the stirring first moments of Disney’s upgraded “The Lion King” — a turbocharged animal fable that, like 2016’s “The Jungle Book,” uses photorealistic CGI animation to add visual heft and emotional resonance to what was a charming, hand-drawn cartoon — it’s clear that this African-set narrative of a doomed king and his

reluctant-prince son has tapped into a powerful well of myth.

As Rafiki the mandrill hoists the newborn lion cub Simba high above a savanna full of Simba’s future subjects — adoring antelopes, gamboling giraffes and other worshipful wildlife — a heavenly choir sings about the “Circle of Life.”

Translation? In this new, virtual-flesh-and-blood version of the film, the creatures that have assembled to pay their respects to Simba are essentially his breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lives that are at stake, and sometimes lost, in this vivid evocation of human power struggles — expressed via the metaphor of the food chain — have never felt so precious or so vital.

“But Dad,” Simba asks his father, Mufasa, at one point, “don’t we eat the antelopes?”

There’s something about this “Lion King,” which, like the original, has its narrative roots in

“Hamlet,” that feels so much more Shakespearean and so much more tragic than the 1994 feature-length animation. There, the story’s darker themes were subliminal, not center stage. Here, the death of a beloved character, one whose fur looks so real you could pet it, is that much harder to take.

The shadow of mortality is never very far away, even when the action shifts to the lowbrow humor of the flatulent warthog Pumbaa (voice of Seth Rogen) and his catty sidekick, Timon the meerkat (Billy Eichner). They’re a scene-stealing duo whose comic relief goes a long way toward brightening some of its duskier corners. Will Shakespeare liked fart jokes, too.

About that lion cub, though: Simba (voiced as a child by JD Mccrary) eventually grows up. So, apparently, has the film.

The chorus of awws that arose from a recent preview audience at the first sight of the adorable heir to Mufasa (James Earl Jones, reprising his role from the first film), eventually gives way to genuine awe, in the true sense of wonder mixed with dread.

Every strand of Simba’s fur looks cuddle-ably real. But so does everything else in the film — water, butterflies, teeth — to a degree that is as stunning as it is scary whenever, for instance, Mufasa’s treacherous brother, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor), or sinister hyenaqueen Shenzi (Florence Kasumba) take the screen.

In a story loosely based on Shakespeare’s play about the melancholy Dane, Scar is plotting to overthrow his brother and usurp his brother’s mate (Alfre Woodard), casting the blame on poor Simba.

Yes, this is a dark story, but it’s not just dark for its own sake. It’s also unexpectedly moving. If it’s more likely to upset younger viewers than the first film was — and it surely is — it’s also more likely to satisfy older ones. There’s real meat to chew on in this fleshedout “Lion” (directed by Jon Favreau, who also helmed “The Jungle Book”).

That said, while “The Lion King’s” themes are straight out of the Bard, it’s also Disney. So don’t expect a disquisition on death and dishonor. “The Lion King”

is hugely entertaining, from the dazzling visuals to the top-notch voice cast, which includes Donald Glover as the grown-up Simba, Beyonce as his lioness ladylove and John Oliver as the neurotic hornbill Zazu.

Yes, this movie is a safari to the shadowland, a place of death and fear where Simba ventures, early on, in disobedience of his father. And it’s just deep enough to give a cat who’s come of age something to sink his teeth into.