My Movie Review on The Lion King (2019) (Reconstructed & Re-Analyzed)

This is a modified version of the review I made on “The Lion King (2019)”, which was originally done in 2020. 

Similar to my review of “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island”, my thoughts on the film after previously giving it a re-analyzing have also been combined with many of my original statements, mainly so that things could be up to date. And no, I did not give the film a rewatch in preparation.

Take a look:

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What’s up, Kemosabes?

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

And today, for my 102nd film analysis, I’m gonna give you guys my take of “The Lion King”. The CGI remake from 2019 to be precise.

Considering that this movie follows the same storyline as the animated film, I hardly think that a summary of it is necessary.

A prime reason for why I saw this movie was because, despite being aware of its mixed reputation and anticipating that it likely wouldn’t be great, I wanted to have my own personal opinion on it. So, I saw the film using a free cartoon website, and made sure my head was in the game.

But, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. As I anticipated, this remake was relatively mediocre at the most.

Before I start my berating of this movie, I’d like to start with the surprising positives that I found.

Similar to a great many others, I found myself unexpectedly pleased with the performances of Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. The same with Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre as Kamari and Azizi, might I add. Out of all the performers, they not only delivered the best comedic-timings, but they gave their characters outstanding life, depth, and personality.

Other performances that I found myself enjoying were Chiwetl Ejiofor as Scar and Florence Kasumba as Shenzi. Each of them brought an incredibly unique and interesting take to their individual roles, and I could tell that they helped shape the characters into completely standing apart from their 1994 counterparts.

Also, minus the characters not having facial expressions at the most, the special effects used with the animals and landscapes were quite impressive. They looked extremely realistic, that’s for sure.

And as always, Hans Zimmer never ceased to amaze me when it came to making a magnificent musical score. 

Zimmer pretty much kept the score at the same kind of level as that of the animated film, of course. But, he didn’t keep himself from being creative and really throwing himself into composing for this film either, which was great. Heck, aside from the film’s rendition of “Be Prepared” being rather short, I found myself enjoying the surprisingly dark and fresh take it had on the song.

However, like I already said, the film wasn’t without its Achilles Heels.

For instance, the voice acting and characters were generally polarizing.

Like I already said, Eichner, Rogen, Key, Andre, Ejiofor, and Kasumba were the prime performers who actually stood out to me in a good way. Everyone else, meanwhile, was hardly able to bring any charm or life to their characters. They sounded like they were a lot more bored than having a good time, and the fact that the characters were peppered by obviously recycled or creatively uninspired dialogue certainly didn’t help any. The latter factor, unfortunately, was something that not even the cast members I commended were able to escape.

A prime example comes from Donald Glover’s performance as Simba. Glover sounded like he was hardly into the legendary role he was taking on, and it was clear that he was obviously held back by his material being just about the same as in the 1994 animated version. James Earl Jones’s reprisal as Mufasa was also quite welcoming, but I can’t help but feel that he was underused. He wasn’t given anything new to work with for this remake, and his performance sounded like it lacked personality compared to his work in the original. And as for the performances of Alfre Wood as Sarabi, John Oliver as Zazu, and John Kani as Rafiki…they were generally so-so at the most.

Nevertheless, if I were to choose which vocal performance in this movie was perhaps the worst out of everyone, it’d be Beyonce’s portrayal of Nala.

As I looked back on Beyonce’s casting, I couldn't help but question what Jon Favreau ever saw in Beyonce that would prompt him into hiring her for the part of Nala. Compared to Moira Kelly's performance as Nala in the animated films, Beyonce's portrayal sounded incredibly bare and lifeless. Not to mention infuriating, because most of the time, she caused the character to always sound either uptight or angry.

When it comes to the characters featured in this remake, I didn’t care for them very much. Their developments were relatively the same as their 1994 counterparts, and their personalities weren’t different or unique from them either. The worst part is that it all came across in an uninspiring kind of way, so I naturally found myself not having any reason to get engaged by the characters either.

In addition to this, there were things about the music score that I had issues with.

Like I previously stated, I enjoyed how Hans Zimmer was able to help his music feel inspired and creative. But, outside of the film’s version of “Be Prepared”, the musical numbers were the exact opposite of the words I mentioned. Unlike the highly renowned animated version, the songs hardly held the spark that made them so pleasurable in the original, and the limitations of photorealistic imagery compared to hand-drawn and computer animation appeared to be making themselves apparent. All the animals often did was just walk or run around as they sang, so there was little-to-no choreography whatsoever.

My biggest gripe, though…comes from the direction by Jon Favreau and the screenplay by Jeff Nathanson. 

Before I saw this movie, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt because of being a fan of Favreau’s movies and Nathanson’s work in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”. In spite of this, I found that they were sadly unable to make the film worth something. 

Every step of the way, it seemed like Favreau and Nathanson’s creativity was completely restrained by this unnecessary need to be nostalgic, repeating the same story and hardly providing anything new or fresh. The worst part about it was that all of the delight that made the hand-drawn animated version so spectacular...was missing. Everything mainly felt like it was just going through the motions, like it was done by a factory machine instead of people.

Perhaps if Favreau and Nathanson had created an all-out remake of “The Lion King” instead of making a carbon copy of it, this would be something worth seeing more than once.

And yes, I know that they incorporated some newly added moments, but the scenes in question hardly made up for the severe lack of originality and inspiration. 

For example, I appreciated the fact that Nala's story was expanded upon, but I also didn't think it helped the film not feel like some mere excuse to experiment with photorealistic effects. Not to mention that whenever I think back on Favreau and Nathanson’s attempts at further developing Nala’s character, I can’t help but question what the point behind doing so was. All it did was distract from Simba’s character arc, and it seemed more like something that’d be better used as a miniseries or something like that. Even the fight scene between Nala and Shenzi, or the apparent rivalry between them, wasn’t something that got my interest.

In the end, “The Lion King (2019)” was mainly an underwhelming venture at the most. Despite the positives I already mentioned, it’ll never compare to the sheer awesomeness of the animated film, and I’m not saying that based on nostalgic preferences either.

So, I rate “The Lion King (2019)” 2½ out of five stars. 

Move over “Beauty and the Beast (2017)”, you’ve got company.