The Lion King: Jon Favreau's Wonderful Visual Feast Fails to Replicate the Original Magic


The Lion King: Jon Favreau's Wonderful Visual Feast Fails to Replicate the Original Magic

Rating: ***

Cast: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Beyonce, James Earl Jones

Director: Jon Favreau

Producer: Jon Favreau, Jeffrey Silver, Karen Gilchrist

Singers: JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Billy Eichner, Beyonce, Donald Glover

First things first, Disney’s latest huge remake, The Lion King takes you to a whole new different level with its VFX effects; you can even call it the best ever made since James Cameron’s Avatar. It was indeed tough to differentiate whether it was real or just animation, that’s how perfect the remake was. Mind-blowing graphics! Director Jon Favreau has already spoken earlier about the heavy usage of ‘the computer-generated imagery’ (CGI) in the film than his remake of the film ‘Jungle Book’, which was released in 2016. The state-of-the-art advanced techniques revolutionize the cinema world and staying true to this, the Lion King brings you a visual treat that gives you the cutest Simba ever seen.

Hitting the exact same script of the classic 1994 Lion King movie, writer Jeff Nathanson made sure that the storyline of the new film is the ditto of the classic. The new enthralling Lion King movie was remade after 25 years, and has the same set of dialogues, camera angles and even the characters. Despite not changing much from the original scores, the music had some tweaks here and there with the modern techniques playing its part and the soundtrack of the movie is well received worldwide. Being the anchorman, Hans Zimmers’s composition and Elton John’s and Tim Rice’s contribution in writing has paid off well in the end.

We can say that Jon Favreau has incorporated the ‘social message’ of preserving the nature in regards to the bizarre human burning up of the forest and its belongings. He tried to craft an image in everyone’s life about the way all animals lived in the jungle by singing and dancing, as he realizes the disheartening fact that sooner or later all the flora and fauna gonna be heavily affected. The voice performances from Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Beyonce and James Earl Jones were a class apart and prove how these people can adapt and improvise.

But on the down side, the lack of facial expressions in the characters can definitely cause a strain even though it’s a CGI remake of the original. In addition, the running time has been extended by 30 minutes from the original. An odd inclusion of a song (or rather a ballad) called ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ in a daytime (really weird, indeed!) questions the unnecessary sweat being put forward.

The remake couldn’t replicate the magic original gifted us, but as the contemporary world is evolving, the new Lion King promises to provide that visual treat you are looking for. If you really expect that delightful experience you had with the original, you’ll be disappointed as the movie is kind of bleak, but definitely watchable as Simba is back after 25 years.

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