Written by my special guest and close friend Joel Coppadge!
1994’s The
Lion King is one of my favorite Disney movies of time all, so when I first
heard Disney was making a live-action remake, the kid in me said; “This is
awesome!”, but the adult in me said; “Oh god, please don’t screw this up.” The first time seeing the remake didn’t go
well because the bass in the movie theater was off, as it kept making a weird
gargle sound every time a loud noise occurred. After letting the theater staff know about the
sound problem, the people in front of me were going unbearably slow, right as
the movie was about to start. As in, the
first ‘Nants ingonyama” starting. I
wanted to tell them “go faster” but that would be rude. I ended up seeing the film a second time (in
IMAX) for a better experience (that’s just how big a fan of The Lion King I am).
So, after two
viewings what do I have to say about the remake? It was fine, just fine. While the remake does some new things I
actually like, there are things it either does or removes from the original
that hurt the impact of the story. Since
most are aware of the movie’s plot by now, it’s better to tackle this review in
more of a pro/con setting, praising the movie’s strengths, but also addressing
the weaknesses of the film. So, without
further ado, let’s begin.
THE PROS:
The easiest
one: JAMES EARL JONES AS MUFASA!!! If anyone had to reprise his role from the
original, James Earl Jones was at the top of the list. The actor effectively expresses Mufasa’s
wisdom, poise, and strength in full display. Unlike the original where he fights three
hyenas to save Simba (JD McCrary/Donald Glover) and Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph/Beyoncé),
this time Mufasa fights a whole pack of them and scares them off.
Shenzi (Florence Kasumba) as lead hyena: One of the more interesting parts of the remake is the blood feud
between the hyenas and lions. Shenzi
describes this feud going on since the dawn of time, which leads to more of an
incentive why she and the other hyenas form and alliance with Scar (Chiwetel
Ejiofor).
The fall of the Pride Lands: In
the original, once Scar takes over the kingdom you don’t seem him, the hyenas,
and other lions in the film until Simba returns home, which he finds in
complete ruin. The remake takes time and
shows how that happens. It’s caused by
the hyenas over hunting and driving the other herds of animals away. This reinforces what Mufasa was explaining to
Simba about the circle of life and the balance it maintains.
The female lions have bigger roles: Both Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) and Nala are given bigger roles than
in the original movie. Sarabi was
involved in a love triangle between Mufasa and Scar, choosing the latter over
the former, and despite Mufasa’s death, stands by his beliefs and calls out
Scar for his terrible leadership. Nala,
on the other hand, is shown being active in trying to overthrow Scar, to the
point we actually see her leave to get help (which leads her to find Simba). And, in the climax of the movie, we see her go
one-on-one with Shenzi. It makes you wonder
why she wasn’t queen sooner.
Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogen): This classic comedic duo are a highlight in this remake. Their humor is solid, and Seth Rogen’s
approach to Pumba is so good that if you close your eyes, he sounds like the
original voice actor Ernie Sabella.
The Songs: Most of the
songs are sung pretty well. That
includes; “Circle of Life,” “Hakuna Matata,” and “Can you Feel the Love
Tonight?”
THE CONS:
Lack of Emotion: While it is
cool to see these animals in live-action (CGI), one of the things lost is the
ability for them to express emotion in their faces. A key example is Simba’s reaction to finding
Mufasa’s corpse. JD McCary does the best
he can, but when you look at Simba, you don’t see the sadness of a boy losing
his father. Not only are the sad scenes
affected, but the villainous ones as well. Scar’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) iconic line; “Long
live the King” comes across more robotic than sinister. Speaking of Scar……
The Portrayal of Scar: One of the
appeals of Scar as a villain wasn’t just how cunning he was in getting the
throne, but his sassy nature. Yet most
likely due to the success of The Jungle Book remake, and this remake trying to be more
serious, the writers try making remake Scar more like Shere Kahn. This leaves Scar lacking personality. Also, because they use realistic animals, Scar
doesn’t look as unique as he did in the original. Instead, he looks rather sickly, which makes
me question why the Hyenas would follow someone they could easily overpower. Not to mention his song “Be Prepared” is
reduced to only about a minute long and is barely a song.
Dead Air: One of the
things very noticeable was dead air in this movie. The remake’s runtime is thirty minutes longer
than the original. This results in
certain scenes being dragged out a lot longer than they need to be. One example is the first scene after the title
card. Instead of the rat that Scar tries
to eat already in the cave, we spend a full minute following the rat heading
towards the cave. While that may not
seem so bad, an even worse offense occurs when Rafiki discovers Simba is alive.
In the original, Rafiki just senses it
in the air and knows instantly Simba is alive. In the remake, some hair from Simba’s mane
falls off, floats down a river, which picked up by different animals (it is
eaten by a giraffe that poops it out and rolled down a hill by a beetle) until
it leads to Rafiki at his tree who recognizes it as Simba. This takes a
painfully long five minutes that feels like an eternity. It’s moments like this that end up hurting the
remake.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight?: No,
I couldn’t feel the love, mostly because the song is sung in the middle of the
day. I know this seems minor in the grand scheme of things, but when I become more focus on the time of day than
the actual song, you know there’s a problem.
Lack of Mysticism: Another
element that was seriously lacking in the remake is little to no mysticism. I noticed how little Rafiki does in this movie
compared to the original. In the opening
song number, Rafiki doesn’t have his staff, which isn’t too bad at first, but
then he doesn’t reveal the staff until the climax of the movie, and they try to
make it seem like a big deal. Had Rafiki
done more in the remake this could have been a cool moment. Even Simba’s vision of his deceased father is
boring because it’s just a cloud that vaguely shapes Mufasa’s face with
lightning in it. It doesn’t feel as
grand as it was in the original.
The Moral of the Story: And now we
reach the movie’s biggest flaw and something I can’t forgive in any way. One of the movie's best parts is when Rafiki
and Simba are talking after he had his vision from Mufasa. Simba admits to being scared to face his past,
and then Rafiki says the following: “Yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it
you can either run from it, or, learn from it.” This was not only a unique
moral from a Disney movie at the time but one that anyone can relate to. Let’s face it, we’ve all been or will be
knocked down at some point by difficult hardships. And at that time, we will have to choose
whether to run away and live in fear or be brave and move forward. How does the remake handle this moral? It completely glosses over the moral. It, instead, focuses more on Simba accepting
his role as king of the Pride Lands than owning up to his mistakes.
There is a
lot to unpack reviewing this blockbuster. Emphasis on blockbuster, as despite the lackluster moments, the movie made one-billion dollars in only a couple weeks. I guess heavy nostalgia of the original Lion
King was strong enough to bring people to the theaters. It also seems the live-action Disney remake
train is showing no signs of slowing down between the box office success of Aladdin
and The Lion King. Disney is
going to continue cranking out these remakes in the years to come. Let’s just hope that they remember to keep the
magic that made us love these classics.
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