New ‘Lion King’ still has powerful roar
Review: Film is visually stunning, sounds great while sticking to script
For anyone truly worried that Disney’s new redo of “The Lion King” will disappoint, well, hakuna matata and all that.
The Circle of Life has never looked so good: Director Jon Favreau’s visually wowing update (★★★☆ ; rated PG; in theaters nationwide July 19) stuns the senses with photorealistic animals and an immersive African landscape, all courtesy of game-changing, incredible visual effects. (Even the grubs are computer-generated, and pretty cute.)
As for the rest of it? This “Lion King” is akin to a revival of an iconic Broadway musical, with an all-star cast and a few welcome improvements but lacking a certain magic and originality.
Unlike fellow Disney revamps such as “Maleficent” and this year’s “Dumbo,” Favreau’s film sticks extremely close to the 1994 animated classic – while not a pointless, painfully familiar effort like, say, Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho” remake, it’s not markedly different, either. That shot everyone knows of the crazy-adorable baby Simba being hoisted above Pride Rock is here, obviously, and as a youngster, the cub (voiced by JD McCrary) is groomed to rule one day by his dad King Mufasa (a returning James Earl Jones).
Tragedy strikes when Mufasa saves Simba from a stampede and is then killed by his evil brother Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who takes the throne for his own. But before that, Scar essentially banishes Simba, and the kid grows up living a nomadic life with snarky meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner) and jolly warthog Pumbaa (Seth Rogen). Childhood best friend Nala (Beyoncé) runs into older Simba (Donald Glover), and sparks fly – yes, you
feel the love tonight – before the inevitable lion-on-lion tussle with his villainous relative.
What’s remarkable is the whole thing looks like a well-done nature documentary. The eye-popping visu