The Lion King (2019)

[Bill1978]

It looks gorgeous but I still have that nasty taste of why bother? I'm in the minority I know but I just cannot muster up excitement for this remake. Maybe if it was real animals with animatronics like Babe I could see a reason but it's not so I'm like ho hum.

They also should have just got Jeremy Irons back since the actor (whose name escapes me and I'm too lazy too look up) appears to be doing an imitation of Jeremy. I also think its time James Earl Jones stepped away from voicing his iconic characters, his voice has aged too much for my ears to get all nostalgic.

[Jediknight]

14 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I swear I think the thing that gets people on these trailers is just hearing the original music again.

All the emotions when the Simba ascending Pride Rock music kicked in.

[GoldenGirl90]

They better not have Nala speaking in a southern accent. Beyoncé may be from Texas, but Nala is not damn it! 😅

I really wish Jeremy Irons was coming back as Scar though.

That aside, I want to break down in happy tears hearing James Earl as Mufasa again. I can't wait to see it.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Alexis2291

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Alexis2291 said:

I really wish Jeremy Irons was coming back as Scar though.

Yeah, I wish that Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were coming back as Timon and Pumbaa but Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner sound pretty good so far.

[Friendly kitty]

Wow I looked at the teaser. The same frames, only animals, like real ones. Here are just a father of a lion made too skinny and stripped. Although on the mountain with Simba he is beautiful!😍
 

[JessePinkman]

Hear Beyonce and Donald Glover sing Can You Feel The Love Tonight:

Not gonna lie...I got chills.

And I'm no Disney shill but tickets are on sale today.

[Spartan Girl]

I really really hope this is going to be good.  The musical score is gorgeous...and yet I can't help remembering how the Superman Returns teaser trailer manipulated my emotions with the original John Williams score, and I think we all know how that turned out.

[Bill1978]

Well colour me impressed that Beyoncé didn't Beyoncé her way through that snippet. There was one little moment that I heard it, but just maybe just maybe my fears for that song will not come true.

I still have not warmed up to the existence of this movie however.

[starri]

The soundtrack listing also reveals "Be Prepared." so I'm relaxing.

[Danny Franks]

20 hours ago, JessePinkman said:

Hear Beyonce and Donald Glover sing Can You Feel The Love Tonight:

Not gonna lie...I got chills.

And I'm no Disney shill but tickets are on sale today.

Not a patch on the original, for my money. Or on Elton John's performance of the song. I still just don't get these remakes. If Disney want to do live action versions of Snow White, Cinderella etc, I get it. But to take movies that need to be fully done in CGI anyway, because there are no human performers... why?

Okay, it's all about money. There's no creative vision behind this, which is what's most disappointing. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Danny Franks

[Kiki777]

Not gonna lie, I am looking forward to this.  I never saw the original, but I am obsessed with nature shows of African animals and while this is all CGI, it looks vey impressive and the trailers give me goosebumps.  (Except for Beyoncé.  She bugs me.)

Little Simba is too adorable for words.

[Browncoat]

It's beautiful.  The animation is amazing -- I would swear the animals were real.  I wasn't even bothered by the uncanny valley (unlike, say, The Polar Express, where everyone's eyes completely creeped me out).  CGI has come quite a long way over the years.

I kind of missed the more light-hearted moments of the original.  This one is a bit darker in tone.  But I guess it's hard to have a realistic-looking warthog suddenly appear dressed in a grass skirt, or to have the hyenas shuddering upon hearing the word, "Mufasa". I didn't really feel Pumbaa's rage at being called chubby, either, as I did with the original.  I definitely missed Jeremy Irons' dry sarcasm.

I enjoyed it quite a lot, mind you, though I think I might prefer the original just a little bit.  Still, I'll probably see this one again.

[Minneapple]

Saw it tonight. It was...okay. I mean it’s a beautiful movie, but the thing that bothered me is that the animals had zero expression. They just look like animals. That took away most of the charm of the original. And yeah, it is a nearly scene-by-scene remake. There are a few differences but not nearly enough to make an impact. 

[Browncoat]

The lack of expression on the animals' faces didn't bother me as much as the lack of expression in their voices.  It is possible to convey a wide range of emotion without facial expression (see also V for Vendetta, or any well done audiobook), but the actors have to be more up to it.  It seemed to me that perhaps the actors didn't, in general, give their best effort.  Maybe they thought there would be more facial expression to rely on?  I don't know, but the movie definitely could have been so much more.

[Enero]

17 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Saw it tonight. It was...okay. I mean it’s a beautiful movie, but the thing that bothered me is that the animals had zero expression. They just look like animals. That took away most of the charm of the original. And yeah, it is a nearly scene-by-scene remake. There are a few differences but not nearly enough to make an impact. 

I’m probably one of the few in the world who wasn’t impressed with the first Lion King. I didn’t see it until years after it’s release. I was really excited because I’d heard nothing but great things about it but found it to be mediocre at best. That said, I was considering seeing this one as the CGI looked great and I heard they were going to be taking a different route with the story but if it’s pretty much a carbon copy of the original and the acting lacked feeling, then I’ll likely take a pass on this until it’s On Demand.

[Luckylyn]

I appreciate how much cgi has improved so there’s no uncanny valley effect.  Visually they did a great job making things look realistic.  My one big criticism is by making the animals look more real they sacrificed the expressiveness of the faces the original had.   I think it lessened the impact of some of the scenes.   They needed to find more of a middle ground between realism and the facial movement of the original animation.   It’s a good movie but the original has the stronger emotional resonance for me.  

[BitterApple]

My husband and I saw it tonight. Similar to the other Disney remakes, I found it to be a mixed bag. Visually the movie was stunning, but I couldn't get past the lack of emotion on the characters' faces. It was like the expressions didn't match the dialogue. I also thought several of the actors were very wooden with their line delivery (cough, cough, Beyonce...). 

Overall it was decent, but not something I'm likely to watch again. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:53 AM, Alexis2291 said:

They better not have Nala speaking in a southern accent. Beyoncé may be from Texas, but Nala is not damn it! 😅

Doesn’t a southern/Texan accent make as much sense as having a lion be capable of human speech in the first place, or of the idea of someone from sub-Saharan Africa speaking American English?

[nomodrama]

Saw it today. It is a beautiful movie in terms of visuals. CIG Technology has come a long way but not long enough to make animals talking and singing look anything but awkward. It was a bit jarring at times, most of the close ups of the animal faces were well done but other times it was just a this strange up and down motion....it felt like I was watching a movie that was dubbed. 

The best part of the movie were Timon and Pumbaa, those two characters seemed to be the only ones with personality but they did have the best lines and delivery. Kudos to Billy Eichner, that guy can make almost anything funny. Without these two characters this version would have been pretty grim. 

I'm in that minority of people that does not like Beyonce, I feel like any other actress could have played Nala and done just as good a job with it. I'll give her the singing....but her voice work is nothing special. 

Circle Of Life will forever give me chills though....this version was no different. 

[kiddo82]

I have nothing new to add.  Stunning visuals but they managed to tell the same exact story as the original, simply animated it in a different way, and....made it dull?  They were so committed to realism that when it worked, usually when the animals weren't supposed to be talking or emoting, it looked fantastic (The prologue, the moonlight silhouettes, etc) but it was devoid of any real feeling.  I liked the voice work fine but all I could think about when watching the animals was if these were actual actors we would be completely shredding the performances. And that's not to say actual human actors can't convey a lot with a simple look or twitch but there is definitely a difference between being understated and not showing any expression at all.  I think this was most evident in the gorge scene.  Having said that, it is a testament to how amazingly evolved animation has become though.  If nothing else, this was was a complete showcase of that.

Edited July 21, 2019 by kiddo82

[Spartan Girl]

It was ok. Visually it was spectacular. I can't complain too much about them forgoing animal facial emotions in favor of realism, especially compared to the horror show that was the Cats trailer. Those little lion cubs were so dang cute I wanted to reach through the screen and scratch their tummy.

The cast was great too, especially Billy and Seth as Timon and Pumbaa. They were probably the best part of the movie. Had to laugh at them replacing the hula number with their own rendition of "Be Our Guest". But I LOVED their version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." And the baby Pumbaa flashback, LOL.

Glad they kept the music untouched. Finale score still gives me chills.

I will say that dead CGI Mufasa hit me a little harder because it reminded me of all the photos on social media of asshole hunters posing with the lion they kill. Some idiot married couple did that THIS WEEK. Obviously they didn't think it wouldn't  be a good idea to post something like that the same week as a remake of very beloved Disney movie about lions opens. But I digress...

So not terrible, but the original will always be the true king. 

[junemeatcleaver]

15 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I also thought several of the actors were very wooden with their line delivery (cough, cough, Beyonce...). 

Honestly I thought Donald Glover was worse than Beyonce.  For someone I think is an exciting and dynamic performer, her speaking voice has little to no emotion.  I get she is a guarded person, but she's supposed to be acting here.

Donald Glover... He was terrible.  I had no expectation that Beyonce was going to be anything other than Beyonce, but Donald Glover sounded like he didn't even try.  He sounded so bored that I wouldn't be surprised if he was constantly checking his watch when he was in the recording booth.

The movie was visually stunning, I would recommend it on how beautiful it was alone.  Unless you have a quality big screen 4K tv, The Lion King is worth seeing in the theater.

[ombelico]

I recommend it just for seeing the visual effects - all of the animals and the scenery look completely realistic. I agree with the poster upthread - it's like an Attenborough documentary. It is truly amazing and certainly makes some portions (e.g., the stampede, and the fight at the end as Simba reclaims the throne) far scarier than the original, to the point that I probably wouldn't take kids younger than 8 or so. I got emotional and weepy watching it, but TBH I think that had more to do with nostalgia, and reflecting on losing loved ones as time as gone on since the original movie came out, rather than the qualities of the movie itself.

But also, that nostalgia kicks in because it's probably at least 85% a frame-by-frame reenactment of the animated version. There are a few things in the original that aren't in this version, and vice versa, but more or less it's identical. So if you didn't like the original, you're definitely not going to like this version. 

[stealinghome]

I agree with pretty much everyone else here—the movie was fine but can’t hold a candle to the original. I agree that it was, I don’t know that I would say dull exactly, but at no point was it really emotionally engrossing. It felt a bit perfunctory, like it was relying on you loving the original and so it thought it didn’t have to make you care about THESE versions of these characters. It also felt a bit rushed—it would have benefited from slowing down in several scenes. The voice work wasn’t NEARLY as good as in the cartoon; I agree that Donald Glover was meh as Simba, which surprised me, and I thought Beyoncé was fine but I don’t get why you hire Beyoncé and then only have her sing one song! And Chiwetel Ejiofor tried, but just couldn’t sound as evil as Jeremy Irons (to be fair? Probably no one could). Even James Earl Jones wasn’t as good as the cartoon. Timon and Pumbaa, and to a lesser degree Zazu, were the highlights for sure, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those were also the characters who were most different from the cartoon. This movie would also have benefited from changing a bit more. I also agree that the CGI, while beautiful, didn’t help because the lack of expressiveness was jarring.

I’m not sorry I saw it for $5, but I definitely wouldn’t pay to see it again in theaters. 

[kiddo82]

6 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

It was ok. Visually it was spectacular. I can't complain too much about them forgoing animal facial emotions in favor of realism, especially compared to the horror show that was the Cats trailer.

Ha.  I had absolutely no interest in Cats until I saw that trailer and I was like "This looks creepy and weird AF and is it wrong that I am suddenly all in on this?"

Edited July 22, 2019 by kiddo82

[junemeatcleaver]

Quote

Even James Earl Jones wasn’t as good as the cartoon. Timon and Pumbaa, and to a lesser degree Zazu, were the highlights for sure, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those were also the characters who were most different from the cartoon.

I have to give a nod to the woman who voiced Shenzi as well.  I think the character and the actress were benefited by the changes in the character like Timon and Pumbaa were.  I would even say Shenzi was the character who was the most different from the original.  I kind of think John Oliver is overrated here.  I found myself missing Rowan Atkinson at a few points, especially during I Just Can't Wait to Be King.

Seriously, the actress who voiced Shenzi was good.  Damn, she would have made a good Nala or any other female character that matter.  Flipping Beyonce...

[kiddo82]

30 minutes ago, junemeatcleaver said:

Seriously, the actress who voiced Shenzi was good.  Damn, she would have made a good Nala or any other female character that matter.  Flipping Beyonce...

To be fair, I think Nala is a pretty thankless role, as written, in both movies.  I don't think it mattered who played her.  

Edited July 22, 2019 by kiddo82

[Robert Lynch]

When I was watching John Oliver's Zazu, all I heard is him reporting on Last Week Tonight with "Welcome, welcome.." planted in my ear. I still cannot erase him from that show.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Robert Lynch

[Annber03]

Saw the movie on Saturday with my family. I was interested mainly 'cause John Oliver as Zazu 🙂, and I did like some of the other cast members involved as well. 

I enjoyed it overall. Yeah, I can agree with the criticisms about it staying so close to the original and all that, but I did like the few changes that were added in (I especially liked the scene of Nala trying to sneak away from Scar-that had a nice bit of suspense to it), and I thought the cast was fine overall. I do agree that the guy voicing Scar didn't seem to have quite the same level of menace to him. His more distant, cold style did work in some scenes, though.

On 7/21/2019 at 2:12 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Those little lion cubs were so dang cute I wanted to reach through the screen and scratch their tummy.

YES! Watching young Simba try and roar was too precious for words :D. 

Quote

The cast was great too, especially Billy and Seth as Timon and Pumbaa. They were probably the best part of the movie. Had to laugh at them replacing the hula number with their own rendition of "Be Our Guest". But I LOVED their version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." And the baby Pumbaa flashback, LOL.

And yes to this, too. I was wondering how they'd handle the hula scene or if it would even be there at all or whatever, but yeah, I love what they did with that in this version. Timon and Pumbaa were my favorite part of the original story (Timon especially), and Billy and Seth followed in Nathan and Ernie's footsteps quite nicely here. 

I also loved the various animals reacting nervously to Simba talking about how hungry he was, as well as Timon's "You've gained 400 pounds since we started" while singing "Hakuna Matata" and showing Simba growing up and all that. 

On 7/21/2019 at 6:25 PM, ombelico said:

It is truly amazing and certainly makes some portions (e.g., the stampede, and the fight at the end as Simba reclaims the throne) far scarier than the original, to the point that I probably wouldn't take kids younger than 8 or so. I got emotional and weepy watching it, but TBH I think that had more to do with nostalgia, and reflecting on losing loved ones as time as gone on since the original movie came out, rather than the qualities of the movie itself.

Echoing all of this as well. Those hyenas were legit unsettling-looking as well (though I did get a kick out of the whole "personal space" argument a couple of them were having throughout). The realistic look of the animals in this version definitely made the moments where they were in danger or dying that much more disturbing. 

On 7/23/2019 at 7:54 PM, Robert Lynch said:

When I was watching John Oliver's Zazu, all I heard is him reporting on Last Week Tonight with "Welcome, welcome.." planted in my ear. I still cannot erase him from that show.

Seriousy, when Zazu was sitting there remarking on the changes in the leadership and being horrified at seeing Scar take over, I just kept thinking, "Man, Oliver really was the best pick for this role in more ways than one." :p. 

I'll always love the original film-I was not yet 10 when it came out, I remember going to the theater to see it, it's one of my favorite childhood movies, all that good stuff. But I did have fun with this version, too. I'd be all for kids today checking out the original if possible, but if this is the way they can be introduced to the story and the characters, I'm good with that, too. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Annber03

[choclatechip45]

I thought it was fun, but nothing will hold a candle to the original.

[tennisgurl]

Having now had a pet kitten, I totally get Simbas behavior as a cub now! Always getting into stuff, thinks that they're big and tough but freaks out when they get themselves into trouble, attention span of a fly, it all makes sense!

I agree with the consensus here. Enjoyable movie with some very impressive work down in making the landscapes and animals look detailed and realistic, but its hard to see what the point of this was, creatively speaking. There were a few changes (like explaining that the pride lands are dying because of over hunting, and not a Fisher King type of thing) but it was almost shot by shot in many ways. You kind of have to ask, why bother if not to make money based on nostalgia? I dont HATE most of these live action Disney movies like some critics do, as most of them are perfectly good movies in their own right, but unless they have something really new to add to the original, I wish that Disney would spend more time and money on new stories? 

My big issue with the super realistic animals is that sometimes it seemed to have dissonance to what was actually happening in the story. The realistic stuff made some things look more intense than in animated form, like the hyenas attacking baby Simba and Nala, or the big fight between Scar and Simba, but it also made some of the goofy Disney songs and dance moments seem kind of odd, like a nature documentary just started to do a dance number. 

So there was a lot to like here (Timon and Pumba translated really well especially) but also some feelings of "why?" 

[Meushell]

Just saw it.

The Good

- Overall, I enjoyed it. The realistic effect replacing facial expressions didn’t bother me.

- 🎶 “Be our guest- Ahhh!” 

- Timon and Pumba. They always annoyed me before, well, mostly Timon. Here they seemed more toned down, or too cute to be annoyed with. I’m not sure. 

- More Nala scenes. 

The Great

- Zazu was pretty awesome in battle.

- Shenzi. Can she have her own movie now? She was wonderful, menacing, and actually lead her own pack. She was the most interesting character in the new movie.

The Bad

- Nala kind of bored me, and she has always been my favorite character. What does it say about the actress that Nala’s best scenes were when she wasn’t talking? (No issues with little Nala btw. I’m strictly talking about adult Nala.)

- No Ed. I missed him. If the goofy in-your-space hyena was Ed, I missed that. The best Ed scene in the original was in the end, where his goofy laugh becomes menacing as Scar is surrounded. Nothing in the new movie compared to that.

- Scar was even more boring than Nala! I gave the new guy a chance, but he sucked. This really showed in “Be Prepared.” I love the original song. I used to listen to it over and over again. The new version was like, “Alright, the song is finally getting started.. Oh, it’s done. That was it?!” A better voice might have done it justice.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Meushell
Typo fix.

[Scarlett45]

I was not impressed. I have enjoyed a few of the remakes (Cinderella, The Jungle Book, & Aladdin in that order); but while I was amazed at the artistry to make the world as photo realistic as possible, this remake bought nothing additional to the story. The best vocal performances were Seth Rogen (Pumba) and Florence Kasumba (Shenzi), I don’t understand why they didn’t hire someone else to sing Be Prepared!! (Best Villain song after Pour Unfortunate Souls)

All of the emotional punches came from the fact that it did look SO realistic, it was like an actual lion died. And for any cat lover watching Young Simba and Nala play was endearing. The design team did a great job, it was beautiful but that’s all it was. 

I won’t be watching again- but I am likely to see the stage production again in the next few years (I would’ve prefered a film version of that). 

[Kiki777]

I saw it finally with a friend- we both loved it!  Neither of us had seen the original, so that might have been a factor.  It was just stunning visually, there were scenes that just gave me chills (in good ways, and bad. Scar has got to be the most evil Disney villian ever) I even cried when Simba found his dad after the stampede.  There were nice funny moments as well - I have a juvenile sense of humor so the warthog fart jokes had me howling.

I'm not a fan of Beyoncé, and she was as annoying as I expected her to be.  Her vocal acrobatics seemed out of place when representing the inner monologue of a young lioness.

Also, I had some trouble suspending my disbelief.  Nala and Simba would be related, as cubs from the same pride.  And how can a grown lion survive on bugs?  My friend found my little comments on animal incest annoying, understandably.  This is Disney, after all.

But altogether, my cheapskate ass found this worth the $12 matinee price.  I would even pay to see it again.

[Scarlett45]

31 minutes ago, Kiki777 said:

Also, I had some trouble suspending my disbelief.  Nala and Simba would be related, as cubs from the same pride.  And how can a grown lion survive on bugs?  My friend found my little comments on animal incest annoying, understandably.  This is Disney, after all.

Don’t feel bad- I thought these things back in 1994, my mom told me it was Movie Logic. 

[Cranberry]

On 8/4/2019 at 9:31 AM, Kiki777 said:

I saw it finally with a friend- we both loved it!  Neither of us had seen the original, so that might have been a factor.  

Oh, watch the original at some point! It's beautiful and is one of the best movies Disney has ever done.

[bijoux]

On 8/4/2019 at 2:31 PM, Kiki777 said:

I'm not a fan of Beyoncé, and she was as annoying as I expected her to be.  Her vocal acrobatics seemed out of place when representing the inner monologue of a young lioness.

Also, I had some trouble suspending my disbelief.  Nala and Simba would be related, as cubs from the same pride.  And how can a grown lion survive on bugs?  My friend found my little comments on animal incest annoying, understandably.  This is Disney, after all.

Beyonce was my least favorite part as well. Thankfully, there were Timon and Pumba to offset Can You Feel the Love Tonight, but the original song was just so uninteresting. And I found her voice work distracting as well. But I get why she was hired. 

Speaking of suspension of disbelief (completely co-signing on Simba and Nala being relatives BTW), how and why was Scar still so emaciated and scruffy looking after years of overkilling and feasting? Did he have glandural issues? He was gorging on everything that ran in Pride Valley and looking like a starved alley cat, meanwhile Simba grew up strong and sported a L'oreal commercial mane off a diet of bugs and worms. Maybe he should introduce a new diet to the lions now that he's king. This seems to unexpectedly be working. 

[Meushell]

On 8/4/2019 at 5:31 AM, Kiki777 said:

Also, I had some trouble suspending my disbelief.  Nala and Simba would be related, as cubs from the same pride.

There are a few theories about Nala’s father. The most Disneyfied version is an outlander, and Mufasa let her live.

On 8/22/2019 at 1:21 PM, bijoux said:

meanwhile Simba grew up strong and sported a L'oreal commercial mane off a diet of bugs and worms

Well, this version had plenty of other animals. Maybe no one questioned it when one “disappeared.” Hakuna matata! 😆

[BetterButter]

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Critics' Choice Award nominations:

Best Visual Effects

Best Song – Spirit

[BetterButter]

‘The Lion King’ Follow-Up Set With ‘Moonlight’ Director Barry Jenkins To Helm For Walt Disney Studios

[Amethyst]

Saw this on Disney+ since I was bored, lol.  Have to agree with the general consensus, it's not a bad movie, but adds nothing.  The realistic visuals take away from any expression the lions made, and the voice acting (with the exception of Rogen, Eichner, Kasumba, and Oliver) was weak.  Florence Kasumba really stood out with Shenzi.  Just menacing as hell.  

Something that really bothered me visually was that I couldn't distinguish any of the lionesses apart.  With the male lions, Scar had that malnourished looking mane while Mustafa had the grandest one.  Simba's was similar.  But I couldn't tell the difference between Nala, Sarabi, or Sarafina at all.  Fail on that part.

The first half was boring, it picks up in the second half.  I was wary of Donald Glover's voice acting, but he actually wasn't bad.  Beyonce was OK, but nothing special.