[Review] The Lion King (5.5/10)

Title - The Lion King
Studio - Walt Disney Pictures
Starring - Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, James Earl Jones, Alfre Woodard, John Kani, John Oliver, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph
Writer - Jeff Nathanson, Brenda Chapman
Director - Jon Favreau
Release - 19 July 2019

I can see now why critics have not been kind to this movie.

The Good:

- Amazing CGI. It's like watching National Geographic because everything looked so real. And beautiful too.

- There were a few silent sequences involving Simba's fur, and those were brilliantly created. There were some scenes just showing an insect and that was both amazing and educational.

- The cast (minus Donald Glover and Beyonce Knowles-Carter) were really good. But the standouts were Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, and Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner who stole the movie. The duo made me chuckle more than a few times.


The Bad:

- Apart from a few chuckles, I was devoid of emotions the whole time. There weren't even any rise at any point in the movie other than the beginning when the first song blasted into our eardrums just like the animated movie.

- And that was mainly because the characters themselves, while looking super realistic, had no facial expressions. There was such a disconnect between the voice actors and the characters. The voice actors, especially Shahadi Wright Joseph and JD McCrary who voiced young Nala and Simba respectively, were exceptional; but did not translate through the characters.

- All the characters should have been more animated and expressive with their body language, perhaps more like the animated movie.


This will definitely be one of the most disappointed movies of the year.