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| (Source: Amazon.com) |
When I saw it fairly recently, I left the theater with a massive smile on my face seeing one of my favorite films with a new coat of paint; it remained faithful to the original (down to casting James Earl Jones as Mufasa once again), the songs were just as I remembered them and mixed elements of their stage versions, and managed to expand upon the story of the original in certain places. However, while I was more than satisfied with the finished product (and the burger I ate while watching it), I do have some flaws I would like to address.
The first piece of criticism that needs to be addressed was James Earl Jones' new interpretation of Mufasa. While initially, I was excited to see the original voice actor returning (considering he is one of my favorite actors, and Mufasa is one of my favorite characters), I was unfortunately disappointed seeing it in action. In the original film, Mufasa's voice had this booming power and regal tone to it, showing Jones was putting a massive amount of passion in the character. In this version, his delivery was flat, emotionless, and felt quite cheap. Unfortunately, that kills the mood in certain iconic scenes carried over from the source material, and sadly destroys their impact. Scenes such as him lecturing a young Simba under a starry sky, and the latter seeing his father's ghost later in the film lose the power and emotion they once had because of that flatline delivery. One could obviously see that Jones was not reprising his role for the fond memory of doing the original, but simply for a paycheck. A similar criticism can be given to Mufasa's brother, Scar; particularly regarding the new version of the villain song, Be Prepared.
I will preface this criticism saying that I liked the new Be Prepared; matter of fact, it sent chills down my spine moreso than the original and stage versions. The new version increases the intensity of the song, increasing its impact and the intimidating nature of the antagonist. However, like Doomsday's appearance in Batman v Superman, it also felt like it was tacked on to appease the fans since it was initially planned to be cut from the remake. This is definitely shown through the song's length and the lyrics, since over half of it is simply the phrase "be prepared" repeated multiple times. The song itself is also significantly truncated in comparison to previous versions, clocking in at slightly over two minutes as opposed to the three minute original. That and the hacked-together nature of the song disappointed me, because Be Prepared is my favorite song from the original film, and the one I was looking forward to seeing most. However, I love how it left me speechless as the number ending, simply mouthing "whoa" and attempting to process what I saw moments before. Moving past the negative aspects of the film, there are some massive positives that need to be recognized; for starters, those regarding the new Timon and Pumbaa.
Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen managed to gracefully uphold the legacy left by their predecessors, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella. Matter of fact, there were times where the two managed to sound almost identically to the originals. Additionally, their versions of Hakuna Matata and the "live bait" scene kept me laughing. While the comedic aspect of the remake has been drastically reduced, I am glad that Timon and Pumbaa still delivered on the laughs, and stole the show just as they did in the source material. I am going to give a slight spoiler, but my favorite scene with these two was when they were singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and their neighbors were looking at them like they were saying "oh god, not those guys again." Their expressions alone caused quite a few laughs from the audience.
In regard to the aforementioned reduction in comedy, while this take is substantially darker, it also means the emotional impact is increased. While I could emotionally connect with the characters in the original, there were moments where I was nearly to the point of shedding tears in certain moments in the remake. A prominent example of this was during the infamous stampede sequence; I tried to hold back tears as Mufasa put his own life on the line to Simba, but when Scar threw him off the cliff, I simply lost it. I do not remember the last time a scene in a film had that much of an emotional impact on me, but good job Lion King for pushing me to that point. I still cannot listen to the stampede's instrumental without having flashbacks of that scene, so thank you for that.
Overall, this is one of Disney's remakes I would highly recommend seeing; it is faithful to the original while also giving the viewer something new (along with references to the stage musical), it retains all songs and their charm from the original (something Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast did not), and is also beautifully animated. However, if you are going in expecting James Earl Jones to give another stellar performance as Mufasa or something as comedic as the original, then you will be somewhat disappointed. Myself, I am definitely looking forward to seeing it again when it is released on Amazon Prime Video; I absolutely loved it despite its flaws.
What did you think of the film? Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments below, and also please like and follow for future Reviews and Retrospectives posts.
