Leijonakuningas

I felt as uncomfortable watching the new Lion King as I would have felt watching natural history documentaries with narration that jokingly imitates the “voices” of animals. At the same time, it is an inordinately long (and drawn-out) film, very dark (the hyenas could sign up for a horror-movie casting call) and verbose, i.e. not very suitable for younger viewers who would most likely appreciate the talking fauna. I very much enjoyed Caleb Deschanel’s camera work, which was adapted to the characters’ point of view, and one wordless scene including the odyssey of a dung beetle with a ball of giraffe droppings. Otherwise, a negative feeling of inappropriateness predominated. When you see a photo-realistically animated (and talking) warthog and a (talking) meerkat tame a (talking) lion cub and turn it into an entomophage, it is more disturbing than funny or cute. Whereas I can still be impressed by the original to this day, the reboot just makes me want to cry over the idea that it will be a huge commercial hit and Disney will continue to churn out such empty, asexual, absolutely unsurprising remakes of its successful films. The Jungle Book had a faster pace and more convincing characters, and it did not merely copy the original film, but developed it in a meaningful manner. It was unique in some way. Conversely, The Lion King is only a soulless imitation, perhaps technologically perfect, but almost worthless artistically. 50% (18.07.2019)

Jon Favreau got probably excited about new animation technology because after beautiful The Jungle Book he filmed  no less amazing The Lion King. And even though the story is well known and you heard the music a hundred times, it is still brilliant and I was captivated by this remake. And it is precisely this technology that makes me feel as if real living creatures were wandering through that bush. I was even horrified a little by the thought I had while watching this movie that the kids in the future might watch this kind of movies and think what a wonderful world we used to have... (24.12.2019)

A new version of the classic Disney story about Simba, who grew from a little lion cub into the king of animals and avenged his father's death. The new Lion King looks incredibly realistic, but the moment the animals start talking and singing, it starts to fall apart. The fairytale atmosphere where no one bothered with the chatty animals is gone, and in its new form it all feels a bit out of place. Still, it's an inoffensive adventure that will appeal to older viewers with its nostalgia and younger ones with its songs and lots of animals. But it is far from an exceptional film. (23.07.2019)

The essence of sterility. Beautiful yet pointless. I wonder what Favreau's role as director was. It couldn't have been more than sending out two mass emails: one to the actors "put on The Lion King and say the same thing", and the other to the thousands of hopefuls behind the rendering computers "put on The Lion King, forget the emotions in the faces and otherwise do the same thing using CGI and share the result with me in a few years". There is not a single ounce of invention, no interpretation, let alone an original idea. On the other hand, the glitz is so intoxicating and the original material and music so catchy that if you have to take your kids to see it, at least it won’t a complete waste of time. (02.08.2019)

If anyone is going to remake Disney classics, it should be Jon Favreau! The Jungle Book may have had more swing and adventure, but The Lion King is also breathtaking in its visuals, music, emotion and nostalgia. Tears on the edge of my eyes more or less the whole film. The scene with the hyenas is wonderfully creepy and the lion fight a clear highlight. The fairy tale of my childhood got a solid tribute. 85%. (27.07.2019)

A beautiful visual aspect and Hans’s faultless, Oscar-winning composition. A remake of one of my favorite kids’ movies with a minimum of changes, which suits me just fine. More action scenes and a little more romping in the perfectly rendered countryside do nothing but good. I liked the voice of James Earl Jones and Seth Rogen is fantastic as Pumba. (09.11.2019)

A verbatim remake that, while visually stunning, is an identical copy of the famous original without any additional ideas, improvements or moments of surprise (except for the dung beetle). Favreau thus remains just a hitmaker who can deliver a film that will hit the hundred-million mark at the box office, but the soul of the original is nowhere to be seen. Commercially, it’s fine, perhaps, but otherwise it’s a pointless update of something that was already almost perfect. (21.07.2019)

The animation is so amazing that after a while I didn't even see it as animation anymore, indeed I almost caught myself at times thinking the animals were talking – it's simply pure movie magic, nothing less. It was like how I was impressed by the monkeys in the new Planet of the Apes films, for example; the only difference is that the story wasn't just about them. In The Lion King, it's now exclusively about digital animals and supposedly digital landscapes and everything we see (I almost don't want to believe it). Really amazing. But what would it be without a good story, right? They didn't experiment too much in that regard, and relied on the tried and tested certainties, augmented with nice little touches here and there (more space for Timon and Pumba was definitely a good move), which actually applies to Zimmer's tried and tested music and Elton John's songs. Aside from a few added "jokes for a more advanced audience", John Favreau's direction is what makes The Lion King a more mature spectacle. Like Steven Spielberg in The Adventures Of Tintin, he could do anything with a digital camera, but he tends to keep a low profile and doesn't make any flourishes. Everything looks like it's filmed in the real countryside with real animals (the desert shots put Lawrence of Arabia to shame), and when Favreau lets go of the reins we getan amazing scene with a tuft of fur that makes winking referenceto Forrest Gump, or a few horror segments (within the bounds of accessibility). In short, it's well done; and while I haven't had the urge to see the new Jungle Book again since I saw it in the theater, I suspect quite strongly that it will be different in the case of The Lion King. (18.07.2019)

A mechanically generated remake that looks beautiful and has a couple of ideas of its own, but that’s also something that nobody who didn’t expect to profit from it needed in this world. I haven’t watched the original since I was a kid and I don’t have many memories about it, that’s probably the reason why I was able to endure this version unharmed and don’t need to condemn it to a below-par rating. And of course, I praise the superb voice acting, among whom Seth Rogen as the faithful warthog stands out (only Jeremy Irons was missing). 60% (16.03.2020)

The animators have done an excellent job in terms of authentic portrayals of living creatures and nature, ensuring that the animation is absolutely breath-taking, and many shots look as if they came from natural history documentaries. The problem is that The Lion King is not a documentary from the African savannah, but rather a musical from Disney, in which the animals talk and sing, and this truly does not work well together with photo-realistic animation. In order to achieve the greatest possible credibility, the animal heroes were deprived of all "human" facial expressions, and therefore the only emotions in their dialogues are the voices of their voice actors, which leave something to be desired. The story (basically Hamlet) is no different from the animated version (except that it’s half an hour longer) and it's still understandably great, but it just doesn't have much to surprise you with if you've seen the original The Lion King. The new The Lion King is a technologically perfect, but otherwise somewhat soulless copy of its much better predecessor. (03.10.2020)

If you expect the new The Lion King to make any innovative narrative shifts away from the animated original, you will probably leave the cinema disappointed. I went expecting to be nostalgically immersed back into one of Disney's most beautiful and saddest stories for two hours, but this time in a realistic, albeit CGI format. I have to commend the makers for putting in some smaller, meaningful scenes that weren't in the original film. As with the original, the humorous line with Timon and Pumba amused me the most, while the battle between the hyenas and the lionesses sent chills down my spine. In this case, I have to point out that I understand any rating, as there are many lovers of the original and at the same time opponents of purely CGI films who will not give this technically innovative but template-like film a chance. For me, however, it was my cup of tea, though of course there is only one original. (20.07.2019)

Alkuperäinen elokuva ei ole vielä niin vanha, että uudelle versiolle olisi tarvetta, ja tässä onkin ollut kyse vain uudesta CGI-asusta – ja epäilemättä rahasta. Eikä Beyoncé vie minulta jalkoja alta, hänen esityksensä ei lainkaan lumoa, ja kaikki muut laulut ovat amatöörien esittämiä. Ihan oikeasti, mitä odotat Seth Rogenin tai John Oliverin laulusuoritukselta? Eli mikäli haluat nähdä huippunykyaikaisen animaation, tässä se tulee, muussa tapauksessa parempi katsoa alkuperäisversio. (01.08.2019)

I never saw the original The Lion King from 1994, so I'm not burdened with the need to compare the films. The story itself is very nice and the songs are easy to listen to. The technical execution is very good. It just seems a bit synthetic to me and smacks of commerce. But I suppose child viewers must be excited about this film. (70%) (25.07.2021)

Symbol of pointlessness. Yes, the new Lion King made such a killing in the theaters that it now ranks among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time. Yes, for the youngest generation who would probably never watch the original, this means access to one of the best Disney movies ever. Yes, visually there is absolutely nothing to complain about. However, despite all this, the whole movie feels empty, with a minimum of emotion, and despite its all-star cast, it is not as funny as the original. Not to mention that the soundtrack with all its changes and new additions does not even come close to the original. I understand Disney's obsession with remakes, because it's a safe bet financially and why would they change something that works, but even Favreau and Nathanson must have felt ashamed for raking in all that cash for this 99% replica. (23.10.2019)