Film Review: The Lion King

It’s pretty obvious that most, if not all, of the discourse around the remake of The Lion King is largely going to revolve around what it’s inevitable success will mean for the entertainment industry as a whole. Be it about Disney further cementing a stranglehold on the market, the capabilities of the technology used in this film and how it can be utilized to both positive and negative effects in the future, how the film may or may not represent everything that is holding the company and the industry back, or even whether any criticism will ultimately matter because it seems to be what audiences want, etc., etc.

The film is a very loaded movie in this regard, but strangely enough, it is all discussion points that are born outside of the actual film itself. For as interesting the movie is in exploring its place and importance in the current pop culture landscape, it has little to nothing to do with anything that is in the movie. And had it not been for all this greater contextual stuff, there just wouldn’t be much to talk about here. I mean…it’s just The Lion King…again.

I liked The Lion King fine as a kid, but I don’t have much of an attachment to it. It does hold up fairly well (at least, as well as any movie that seems to actively promote a patriarchal monarchy could), mostly due to the state-of-the-art animation that Disney was capable of at the time. It’s a lively, efficient, and vibrant film that happened to strike lightning with all the right talent at just the right time. Even as someone who isn’t a huge fan, it is very easy to see why is was such an instantly iconic release that has remained in the broader cultural headspace.

Unfortunately, I doubt people will be thinking about this new version long after it leaves theaters. The film is written by Jeff Nathanson and directed by Jon Favreau, who is doubling down on all the stylistic elements he established with his version of The Jungle Book back in 2016, which I also didn’t care for. But while he may have veered into slightly different directions with that remake, his take on The Lion King is…well, no take at all. It’s a near shot-for-shot remake that extensively uses the dialogue from the original and even most of the shot compositions. There is an extra half hour added to this, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen the original that I can’t really tell you what was added, and it didn’t feel overlong, which is probably the most complimentary I can get with it.

It should be stated that when looked at as a tech demo, one that can showcase what the Disney animators can pull off, it’s admittedly impressive. It’s rich in detail, the movements of the animals perfectly mimic what you would see in a nature documentary, the environments are incredibly well realized, it’s a stunning technical accomplishment that I hope Disney is able to experiment with and do more interesting things with.

Because the thing is, as impressive as it is, it also showcases the limitations of this particular approach, especially with this kind of material. Gone is the energy, the physical humor, the vibrancy, and imagination that helped make the original so instantly memorable. Here, we deal with photorealistic animals bound by true-to-life expressiveness and physicality, which is terrible for a musical melodrama. The mouths barely move, the faces are blank, choreography is limited to walking-this-way-and-then-that-way. None of the emotions that the actors are trying get across ever truly register, and the filmmakers seem to be aware of the limitations to a certain extent because many of the performances are fairly understated, which isn’t inherently a bad idea, but I should reiterate that this is a musical melodrama about lions. It simply does a great disservice to a wonderful cast including the likes of Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, John Kani, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, and John Oliver, among many others.

There isn’t much to say about the story because it’s the same. All the scenes you know from the original happen with little to nothing new brought in, and they’re simply not as effective as they were in the original. I’m sure that’ll please a number of fans while disappointing others. If anything, I spent most of the film being bored. It’s not super engaging, the emotional hook just isn’t there, and the dissonance between some of the voice work and the ultra-realistic animation is really awkward.

The biggest difference between this Lion King and the original is fairly simple. The filmmakers behind the original pushed themselves on all fronts in order to tell the story in the best way they can, using best technology available to them to make each beat and each frame count. Story came first, as it usually does in all the best Disney films – or just any film in general. This one has filmmakers pushing the capabilities of modern technology mostly for the sake of pushing the capabilities of modern technology, and using nostalgia to ensure they make some money along the way. There is just nothing interesting within the film to really dissect or discuss in any meaningful substantial way. I’m sure Favreau and co. were earnestly trying to do something interesting when they decided to take part in this, but it’s hard not to see cynicism from every other way you look at it. But hey, at least the new Beyoncé song is pretty good.