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Lion King 2019 - A wonderfully nostalgic Tech Demo
6 years ago
So I just watched Lion King yesterday and...
There were issues.
Okay, now before I go bashing this movie just like about 90% of the critics did, let's start with the positives. In four parts:
Presentation: The new technology was reused from Jungle Book movie and it looks amazing. Despite knowing in the back of my head that it is CGI, the amount of detail and polish is so well done that I could easily imagine everything to be based in real life. And it helps that there were no real actors this time, meaning the world never felt like it was fake.
Plot: While a retread, there were several elements and additions that I found to be enjoyable, like additions of other animals in Hakuna Matata falls, Nala's time during Scar's reign, a twist of Shenzi as the leader, quite few of them gave much needed background to the story.
Characters: For the most part, they were recreated faithfully, and most of them were okay, but I found Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa to be the most entertaining and best parts, hands down. Scar's new VA is also pretty great at his role, and having James Earl Jones back was a lovely treat.
Sound and Music: Even after all of these years, the music still sounds as great as ever, and the new revitalized mix was great to hear in theatres.
So yeah, there were things to be happy about.
Now onto negatives, and ooh boy, do I have SOME things to say here.
Presentation: In the original, the film started in complete darkness, a small light flickers and slowly the rising sun illuminates the theater (NAAAAAAAAHHH). In the remake instead, we have a lingering shot of a random branch, colors muted and primarily gray, somewhere in Africa. As if on cue, sun rises then the chorus starts.
This is a common problem here. The majority of the shots, if they are supposed to be a shot-for-shot, pale in comparison due to their emphasis on realism, losing visual-to-emotional clarity that hand-drawn animation had. Nothing ever looked as pretty, looked as investing and most of the memorable shots in the original lost its punches and became lifeless flailing of the paws. The newer shots they made were better, but all it means is that they couldn't bring back what made original great.
Plot: HUGE pacing problems. People noted that it felt too long, while I felt that it was too fast. Why? Because most of the scenes which original gave time to breathe go way too fast, and all of the feast of the movie instead of pacing it properly, they filleted it with pointless things. Actually, they weren't pointless, I know, they were made to show off technology. Why else did we need this several minute focus on the mouse from the beginning, Simba playing with random bugs and piece of his hair taking a long, very epic road to Rafiki. This was definitely more important than pacing for example, Mufasa's and Simba's bonding moments, focus on Nala's happiness for finding Simba again and their ensuing love plus break up (I am not kidding when I say everything happened in five minutes, like:
-Don't eat them! Wait Nala?
- Simba! You're alive!
- Hey, meet my friends.
- You don't know how long I've waited to see you...
- *nuzzle nuzzle* Can't you feel the love this...afternoon!? Ugh!!!
- You need to come back!
- No
- You are not Simba I remember!
- Fine *leaves*
That was the actual speed of the whole scene, I am not kidding!)
And speaking of newer scenes, Shenzi and Nala have rivalry! Did it start from somewhere? No, not really. Shenzi actually had more beef with Mufasa, then with Sarabi. It felt rushed and as if they were marking checkpoints instead of progressing. Speaking off...
Characters: Voicework was good, but majority miscast and it felt lifeless. Look, I know people harp on the lack of expression as a big turn off, and I somewhat agree, but I found no problems burning majority of the scenes! Except when they needed to emote! Remember when Simba cried during Mufasa's death? Well here's the thing, I found the kid who voiced selling it REALLY well, like, I can hear him cry his heart out and feeling it. But then I look at the screen, and it's that same blank cat expression, no focus on the body or change in the face, no different than looking at a roomba replaying lines off of Titanic. And speaking of reading lines, there's a reason I found Timon and Pumbaa particularly funny. They were the only ones something new to do with the material. The rest had to read original line and they fell flat. Chiweter Ejiofor, Scar'e new VA, had different approach to Scar, so when he had to read the lines originally for Jeremy Irons, they felt wrong and out of character. Donald Glover I could tell was excited to play Simba (apparently he loved the movie since young age, and memorized the lyrics) and it was obvious, but nothing from him was given to Simba, he ended up less interesting than Matthew Broderick, unfortunately. Shenzi, despite the change, was underutilized also. Beyoncé is there to get more tickets and sing.
Music: All sounded great, but again, a retread, rather buy the soundtrack. The numbers in the movie were, as noted in presentation, less memorable, even with fresh set of eyes watching it. "Spirits" is an okay new Beyoncé single.
Overall, don't watch it in theatres, rent it. You'd do better just researching the original, and even if the new look is impressive, give two to three years, and it will become obsolete. They wasted a lot of money on technology, but spent no attention to the story and character, and despite everyone's efforts, it was ultimately wasted. Really sad for the crew, since many did try. But it was exactly as most feared a soulless cashgrab with little to offer something new.
5/10
There were issues.
Okay, now before I go bashing this movie just like about 90% of the critics did, let's start with the positives. In four parts:
Presentation: The new technology was reused from Jungle Book movie and it looks amazing. Despite knowing in the back of my head that it is CGI, the amount of detail and polish is so well done that I could easily imagine everything to be based in real life. And it helps that there were no real actors this time, meaning the world never felt like it was fake.
Plot: While a retread, there were several elements and additions that I found to be enjoyable, like additions of other animals in Hakuna Matata falls, Nala's time during Scar's reign, a twist of Shenzi as the leader, quite few of them gave much needed background to the story.
Characters: For the most part, they were recreated faithfully, and most of them were okay, but I found Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa to be the most entertaining and best parts, hands down. Scar's new VA is also pretty great at his role, and having James Earl Jones back was a lovely treat.
Sound and Music: Even after all of these years, the music still sounds as great as ever, and the new revitalized mix was great to hear in theatres.
So yeah, there were things to be happy about.
Now onto negatives, and ooh boy, do I have SOME things to say here.
Presentation: In the original, the film started in complete darkness, a small light flickers and slowly the rising sun illuminates the theater (NAAAAAAAAHHH). In the remake instead, we have a lingering shot of a random branch, colors muted and primarily gray, somewhere in Africa. As if on cue, sun rises then the chorus starts.
This is a common problem here. The majority of the shots, if they are supposed to be a shot-for-shot, pale in comparison due to their emphasis on realism, losing visual-to-emotional clarity that hand-drawn animation had. Nothing ever looked as pretty, looked as investing and most of the memorable shots in the original lost its punches and became lifeless flailing of the paws. The newer shots they made were better, but all it means is that they couldn't bring back what made original great.
Plot: HUGE pacing problems. People noted that it felt too long, while I felt that it was too fast. Why? Because most of the scenes which original gave time to breathe go way too fast, and all of the feast of the movie instead of pacing it properly, they filleted it with pointless things. Actually, they weren't pointless, I know, they were made to show off technology. Why else did we need this several minute focus on the mouse from the beginning, Simba playing with random bugs and piece of his hair taking a long, very epic road to Rafiki. This was definitely more important than pacing for example, Mufasa's and Simba's bonding moments, focus on Nala's happiness for finding Simba again and their ensuing love plus break up (I am not kidding when I say everything happened in five minutes, like:
-Don't eat them! Wait Nala?
- Simba! You're alive!
- Hey, meet my friends.
- You don't know how long I've waited to see you...
- *nuzzle nuzzle* Can't you feel the love this...afternoon!? Ugh!!!
- You need to come back!
- No
- You are not Simba I remember!
- Fine *leaves*
That was the actual speed of the whole scene, I am not kidding!)
And speaking of newer scenes, Shenzi and Nala have rivalry! Did it start from somewhere? No, not really. Shenzi actually had more beef with Mufasa, then with Sarabi. It felt rushed and as if they were marking checkpoints instead of progressing. Speaking off...
Characters: Voicework was good, but majority miscast and it felt lifeless. Look, I know people harp on the lack of expression as a big turn off, and I somewhat agree, but I found no problems burning majority of the scenes! Except when they needed to emote! Remember when Simba cried during Mufasa's death? Well here's the thing, I found the kid who voiced selling it REALLY well, like, I can hear him cry his heart out and feeling it. But then I look at the screen, and it's that same blank cat expression, no focus on the body or change in the face, no different than looking at a roomba replaying lines off of Titanic. And speaking of reading lines, there's a reason I found Timon and Pumbaa particularly funny. They were the only ones something new to do with the material. The rest had to read original line and they fell flat. Chiweter Ejiofor, Scar'e new VA, had different approach to Scar, so when he had to read the lines originally for Jeremy Irons, they felt wrong and out of character. Donald Glover I could tell was excited to play Simba (apparently he loved the movie since young age, and memorized the lyrics) and it was obvious, but nothing from him was given to Simba, he ended up less interesting than Matthew Broderick, unfortunately. Shenzi, despite the change, was underutilized also. Beyoncé is there to get more tickets and sing.
Music: All sounded great, but again, a retread, rather buy the soundtrack. The numbers in the movie were, as noted in presentation, less memorable, even with fresh set of eyes watching it. "Spirits" is an okay new Beyoncé single.
Overall, don't watch it in theatres, rent it. You'd do better just researching the original, and even if the new look is impressive, give two to three years, and it will become obsolete. They wasted a lot of money on technology, but spent no attention to the story and character, and despite everyone's efforts, it was ultimately wasted. Really sad for the crew, since many did try. But it was exactly as most feared a soulless cashgrab with little to offer something new.
5/10
