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My Viewing This Stevening... 'The Lion King' Remake

I struggled to see the purpose of it, but I still enjoyed it.

By SteveoswheelsPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Back when the remake was announced a few years ago, there was instant concern about how Disney would actually manage to capture the sheer greatness that was the original animated classic. Yet another in a long line of Disney "live-action" remakes of its animated classics, just what really could they do differently to establish it as something unique from the first? Well... as it turns out, nothing much, other than the coat of paint.

First thing's first, while it's commonly labelled a "live-action" remake, there's nothing actually live-action about it. The setting and the animals are all created digitally, but given a photorealistic gloss that is actually kind of stunning. All the animals look and move as you'd expect them to, the scenery is actually breathtaking, and gives it the feeling of something truly real, even if there's nothing actually real about it. So is it live-action, no. But it convinces you that it is, and they can have a pass for that, I suppose.

For the uninitiated, Lion cub, Simba (JD McCrary) idolises his father, King Mufasa (James Earl Jones), and is poised to one day take his Father's place as the King of the jungle. Yet not everyone celebrates Simba's destiny, as his uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) resents Simba's replacing him as next in line to the throne. The war for Pride Rock winds up in the ultimate exile of Simba, to be adopted by two new friends; Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) and Timon (Billy Eichner). The grown Simba (Donald Glover), finds himself recruited by an old friend, Nala (Beyonce Knowles), to take back what is rightfully his.

That's the story of the original animated classic, and is unchanged for the remake. The voice cast for this is an amazing array of some of the best talents out there today, with James Earl Jones being the only voice actor to reprise his original role of Mufasa in the remake, because let's be honest, nobody could replace that voice.

While watching the remake, there was a thought that consistently ran through my mind; 'this is weird'. Now it wasn't the voice acting or the story that was weird, but the presentation was just... off. The differences between hand drawn animation, and the photorealistic animation in the remake are obviously stark, but by introducing photorealism into the mix, there were also limitations into how you could present the interactions between characters. The facial animations and emotions couldn't be presented in ways they were in the original, so in a sense that made it difficult to represent the feelings of the variety of creatures on screen, other than by the abilities of their voice actors.

Hand drawn animation allows for that flexibility, and that creative freedom, you can become lost in your own imagination making you a bit more able to appreciate the emotions and stories told on screen. But when presenting the same story in something photorealistic, you kind of find yourself wondering; "why is this lion talking?" I just couldn't lose myself in the film the same way I could the original, and I think the major reason for that is just because of how good it looks. Now this isn't to say I hated the film, it was perfectly fine. There were a few genuine laugh out loud moments—particularly involving Timon and Pumbaa—and the final sequence still managed to present the same drama and darkness of the original.

Would I recommend you go see it? If you were a fan of the original, then why not? It was enjoyable for what it was, albeit without any real point other than to be a cynical cash grab by the mega corporation.

Score: 5/10

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About the Creator

Steveoswheels

A blog where I share my opinions on pretty much anything, mostly movies, but sometimes the occasional politics and other stuff.

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