THE LION KING (First Reactions)

[SoberAwakening]

They should call the new one the agenda king or we wuz lion kangz n sheet

Please explain this one. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a whiney "why are there so many black people in this movie!", but maybe I'm jumping to conclusions.

You mean a movie that takes place on the continent of Africa has black people as the main voice actors?! For shame!!! Damn that Donald Glover and Beyonce!!!

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Lol at the racists in this thread complaining about the amount of african americans cast as voice actors. With the new bond a black female, their heads must be exploding.

 

[Drain Bamage]

I saw this movie today, like most of the reviews state it is visually stunning but pretty hollow as a movie

Here's what I would have done:

No dialogue, no songs

Make it an uber realistic Lion King

Tell the story using realistic animal portrayals

The problem is they went all realistic with the CGI and it does look realistic but the animals act like people and sing songs which then tells your mind its not real

If you take away the animals acting like people and singing songs, the movie would have looked almost indistinguishable from real life

Like for example you would show the lion pride and there would be one male lion always on the outskirt of the pride, and that would be Scar

and one day the dominant male of the pride, Mufasa, would be just like drinking some water away from the pride and Scar would come by and jack him

But you wouldnt have any dialogue and shit

You guys feel me?

 

[ufcfan4]

I saw this movie today, like most of the reviews state it is visually stunning but pretty hollow as a movie

Here's what I would have done:

No dialogue, no songs

Make it an uber realistic Lion King

Tell the story using realistic animal portrayals

The problem is they went all realistic with the CGI and it does look realistic but the animals act like people and sing songs which then tells your mind its not real

If you take away the animals acting like people and singing songs, the movie would have looked almost indistinguishable from real life

Like for example you would show the lion pride and there would be one male lion always on the outskirt of the pride, and that would be Scar

and one day the dominant male of the pride, Mufasa, would be just like drinking some water away from the pride and Scar would come by and jack him

But you wouldnt have any dialogue and shit

You guys feel me?

Interestingly, my brother made a really similar suggestion after we were discussing it. I liked the notion but told him it wouldn't sell nearly to the extent Disney and co. would want and when you see this film is going to cross a billion worldwide, you know that they knew exactly what they were doing and are happy with the result.

As for the film. I think you hit the nail on the head and it was stated in review after review. It's a jarring experience. The visuals are amazing, but the characters can't emote because they don't have the animated anthropomorphized features of the original characters.

A real lion doesn't show facial features of human-esque emotion. And these guys don't really show it either. The actors do a great job of picking up the slack in that department, but it's still odd.

That said, I enjoyed the film. Nostalgia goes a long way, and while it certainly does not reach the heights of the animated film, it does a good job with what it does. As I said, visually, it's terrific. It's great to hear the familiar songs. The voice actors are uniformly strong (particularly Rogen, Eichner, and Chiwetel) and it was well made.

To those who haven't seen it, do not expect a whole lot of new content. I thought the Aladdin remake did a really solid job of fleshing out certain things and making effective tweaks to the original narrative. This one sticks utterly closely to the original film.

Though

Spoiler

The hyenas are altered a bit. I liked the way Shenzhi was a no-nonsense, stoic leader rather than 1/3 of three comedic reliefs.

I enjoyed that Scar was portrayed not as a known friend to the hyenas but just showed up with his plot. It was a subtle difference that I thought was at least interesting.

I also thought it was pretty clear that they laid it on a bit heavier with Scar's psychological shellacking of Simba. When Mufassa dies, he really lays it on thick with the whole- a cub who killed his father, a boy who killed a king stuff and I thought they did a good job of making that come back around at the end. He almost gets Simba to rescind his claim there and then by bringing up that shit- even throws in a "a boy that abandoned his mother," when running down the reasons why Simba has no claim.

.

It's got its issues. I was entertained.

 

[SoberAwakening]

This movie had no emotion. I'll put it to you like this. Mufasa, who is voiced by the same actor as the 1994 version, sounded weak and hollow.

Perfect example is this scene right here:


1994 Mufasa: "IS THAT A CHALLENGE??!!"
2019 Mufasa: "Is that a challenge?!"

Wildly unpopular opinion: They shouldn't have brought James Earl Jones back. No disrespect, but he is much older now, and he didn't have that power in his voice.

Timon and Pumbaa were fantastic. They were the only ones who brought that energy and they were perfect. Dare I say, they were better than the original Timon and Pumbaa and that is NOT easy to do at all.

Visually this movie is amazing. Emotionally, it doesn't hit the proper notes. There's no emotion in these realistic lion's faces. I went back and watched the 1994 version and I was so appreciative to the animators. The scenes where I should care and truly feel the weight of the scenario, I did.

Like this scene:


0:39, you feel that moment. It's written all over Simba's face. Like, "I'm in deep trouble. I'm not as big as I thought I was. Oh and by the way, I disappointed my dad. The worst thing ever." In the 2019 version, this scene felt so horribly flat. As did the "long live the king" scene.

They added some new content that I actually liked. They added new dialogue to some already stellar scenes. Scar had some great new lines, as did Timon and Pumbaa. Like some laugh out loud lines. The new Beyonce song didn't fit and I didn't like it.

Overall, I didn't mind it. I enjoyed it for the most part. It doesn't come close to being nearly as iconic as the 1994 version. If you can separate that in your mind either before or after watching the movie (preferably before), you should enjoy it.

7/10 for the sake of nostalgia.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Movie was amazing. The only thing I didn't like was Beyonce as the girl. She's just so famous that I didn't hear a lion, I heard Beyonce. Also her song was AWFUL.

 

[heavyarms21]

This felt like a Parody . The Effects were great in places but as far as displaying emotions, it didn't translate well.

Between this and Aladdin , Aladdin was the better remake , mostly because I liked Naomi Scott in that.

 

[heavyarms21]

This movie had no emotion. I'll put it to you like this. Mufasa, who is voiced by the same actor as the 1994 version, sounded weak and hollow.

Perfect example is this scene right here:


1994 Mufasa: "IS THAT A CHALLENGE??!!"
2019 Mufasa: "Is that a challenge?!"

Wildly unpopular opinion: They shouldn't have brought James Earl Jones back. No disrespect, but he is much older now, and he didn't have that power in his voice.

Timon and Pumbaa were fantastic. They were the only ones who brought that energy and they were perfect. Dare I say, they were better than the original Timon and Pumbaa and that is NOT easy to do at all.

Visually this movie is amazing. Emotionally, it doesn't hit the proper notes. There's no emotion in these realistic lion's faces. I went back and watched the 1994 version and I was so appreciative to the animators. The scenes where I should care and truly feel the weight of the scenario, I did.

Like this scene:


0:39, you feel that moment. It's written all over Simba's face. Like, "I'm in deep trouble. I'm not as big as I thought I was. Oh and by the way, I disappointed my dad. The worst thing ever." In the 2019 version, this scene felt so horribly flat. As did the "long live the king" scene.

They added some new content that I actually liked. They added new dialogue to some already stellar scenes. Scar had some great new lines, as did Timon and Pumbaa. Like some laugh out loud lines. The new Beyonce song didn't fit and I didn't like it.

Overall, I didn't mind it. I enjoyed it for the most part. It doesn't come close to being nearly as iconic as the 1994 version. If you can separate that in your mind either before or after watching the movie (preferably before), you should enjoy it.

7/10 for the sake of nostalgia.

Spot On


James Earl Jones in 2019 rightfully so sounds like a Old Tired Man. In 1994 he sounded regal and forceful.