They sang "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" at what looked like 3 in the afternoon. Broad daylight. That shows the level of care and attention they put into making this movie.
I wouldve loved this movie if i hadnt already seen the original. It is almost shot for shot, line for line, the same as the original. Next to nothing new was added. Again, by itself its a damn good movie. But the entire time i just kept thinking "why was this movie even made? why not just watch the superior original over again?"
I'm not really sure how to be unbiased in watching something like this because I grew up with the original and no matter how hard I try to distance myself I'm still comparing the two. Meh...
First off, it is pretty much the exact movie you have come to know and love, but you had to know that before you even watched it, right? The CGI was pretty breathtaking, for me it was the only positive for the movie. There where many times when I had to forcefully remind myself that the lions weren't real, it is simply that good. That being said, CGI alone is never enough to carry an entire movie.
It's 30 minutes longer than the original, and I think you really feel it at some points because the new material just doesn't do enough to advance the plot or give us something groundbreaking. The songs, which were such a joy in the original, seem totally out of focus here. Instead of being an amazing, nostalgic trip down memory lane, it felt almost like a weird parody. I saw it in a theater with a bunch of kids, and they weren't even singing along at all. There just seemed to be no emotion behind the performance.
Interestingly, if you had never seen the original and gone in completely fresh, I'm not sure you'd have thought it to be even a decent movie. It relies heavily on the presumption that you have a history with the source material and is really just going through the motions. I'm not saying they should have gone for PG-13 rather than PG, but this was the chance to really bring our childhood to vivid life. This was the opportunity to make a wildebeast stampede something potentially more terrifying than in the original cartoon, to really feel the thunder of the hooves and backed by a musical score that would ring out like a klaxon in your head. I must say the opportunity felt wasted.
I'll give it a C- with the CGI being the highlight, but that appears to be it.
I almost don't mind the fact this is almost a shot for shot remake, because I love the original. Any excuse to re-watch The Lion King is fine by me!
Then the animals started talking, and there was no emotion to them at all. Zazu is basically just like watching a real bird with John Oliver's voice over the top.
One of the most disappointing films I've seen in a long time.
As an avid fan of the original, I was more than happy to see a shot-for-shot, line-for-line remake with the updated visuals, but this is not even close to that. The script sounds like it was written by someone who watched the 1994 film a lot in childhood, and tried to just recreate it from memory having not watched or thought about it for a few years. This in itself might not have ruined things, but it appears as though the entire budget was spent on the pretty CGI and Disney just held a contest at a local high school to cast the screenwriter. It is embarrassingly bad, to the point where you could probably tell which Mufasa lines were new from hearing James Earl Jones's awkward delivery of them, compared to those he spoke in the original.
Changing Scar's relationship with the hyenas, almost entirely cutting "Be Prepared", and casting based on star power rather than ability (see Beyonce, John Oliver and Billy Eichner) were just some of the baffling decisions made here.
Just watch the original. This version adds nothing. The realism feels weird.
It frustrates me so much that they mess up "Can you feel the love tonight" by putting it during the day...
The changes in dialog from the original makes me feel like Mufasa is not portraited as a righteous king as in the original.
Howover, voice acting is on point. Danny Glover is great as adult Simba.
John Olivier and Billy Eichner are excellent as Zazu and Timon respectively.
Seth Rogen as Pumba is a perfect cast in my opinion.
I wasn't expecting much watching this because it's pretty clear nothing can top the original and there really is no point in redoing all classics just as an excuse to make money.
But I love the original so much, I had to give it a shot, and I really didn't see it possible to screw something so great...
So the CGI is really beautiful, that's for sure. And the songs will always be amazing. But that's pretty much the end of it.
You can pass through emotions with drawing that you can't with real live animals. The whole movie all felt flat and emotionless and just meh. I was so disappointed.
And why did they butcher "Be Prepared"?! Such a waste.
So I had little recollection of the original classic, which fell just into the time of my childhood where Disney films were the epitome of sentimental Hollywood kitsch with too much awkward singing, a course that the studio completed by the end of the 90s and which led to "cooler" new competition by Pixar and Shrek at a later time .. but that's another story.
If I had to describe the remake with one word, it would be "empty". It's not a bad film - the story is a classic one - but it doesn't achieve much on an emotional level. With a sheer insane budget of 250 million one of the most expensive productions of all time, the level of animation is not just great, it's pioneering. Imagine showing this to someone from the 1950s: they would straight believe all this is REAL and we somehow found talking lions. Hell, even I today forgot after 20 minutes that every single landscape was computer generated. Sadly, I didn't feel amazed by the view - which I often do with animation, I grant you that - because it's maybe a bit too perfect and, well .. empty. It's just there and that's it.
Someone pointed out John Oliver and that indeed stuck instantly with me; maybe I'm watching his shows too often, but it felt off to me, almost distracting. Perhaps because a bird's beak is too far from talkative? I don't know. Seth Rogen, on the other hand, was perfect. The rest of the voice cast, including Beyonce, did great, too.
Again, not a bad product - but why would you watch it?
6/10
Good, but if you have seen the animated one from 1994, you do not have to see this one, as frame by frame is "the same movie" but "animated feature film". This was easy money for Disney to make. Beautiful environments and good CGI.
While the visuals are amazing and it is a well made remake, it is no where near as fun or funny as the original. The original just had better voice acting and signing then this remake did. It still worth watching but I would rather watch the original over and over again.
I love the Lion King and I LOVED this, but NOT Beyonce. She was not good in this role in my opinion. I thought it took a lot away from the movie. It seemed like it was making it more about her than the movie.
Is it just me that’s really disappointed with these live action Disney remakes? All I’ll say is Lion King is the best of a bad bunch. Note to Disney, we prefer the animated versions! Leave them alone now!!!
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Comments 1 - 15 of 16
tiedyedvortex
They sang "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" at what looked like 3 in the afternoon. Broad daylight. That shows the level of care and attention they put into making this movie.nowhereman136
I wouldve loved this movie if i hadnt already seen the original. It is almost shot for shot, line for line, the same as the original. Next to nothing new was added. Again, by itself its a damn good movie. But the entire time i just kept thinking "why was this movie even made? why not just watch the superior original over again?"DisneyStitch
I'm not really sure how to be unbiased in watching something like this because I grew up with the original and no matter how hard I try to distance myself I'm still comparing the two. Meh...First off, it is pretty much the exact movie you have come to know and love, but you had to know that before you even watched it, right? The CGI was pretty breathtaking, for me it was the only positive for the movie. There where many times when I had to forcefully remind myself that the lions weren't real, it is simply that good. That being said, CGI alone is never enough to carry an entire movie.
It's 30 minutes longer than the original, and I think you really feel it at some points because the new material just doesn't do enough to advance the plot or give us something groundbreaking. The songs, which were such a joy in the original, seem totally out of focus here. Instead of being an amazing, nostalgic trip down memory lane, it felt almost like a weird parody. I saw it in a theater with a bunch of kids, and they weren't even singing along at all. There just seemed to be no emotion behind the performance.
Interestingly, if you had never seen the original and gone in completely fresh, I'm not sure you'd have thought it to be even a decent movie. It relies heavily on the presumption that you have a history with the source material and is really just going through the motions. I'm not saying they should have gone for PG-13 rather than PG, but this was the chance to really bring our childhood to vivid life. This was the opportunity to make a wildebeast stampede something potentially more terrifying than in the original cartoon, to really feel the thunder of the hooves and backed by a musical score that would ring out like a klaxon in your head. I must say the opportunity felt wasted.
I'll give it a C- with the CGI being the highlight, but that appears to be it.
buc86
I almost don't mind the fact this is almost a shot for shot remake, because I love the original. Any excuse to re-watch The Lion King is fine by me!Then the animals started talking, and there was no emotion to them at all. Zazu is basically just like watching a real bird with John Oliver's voice over the top.
Looks amazing and the cast was great though.
Captain Awesome
One of the most disappointing films I've seen in a long time.As an avid fan of the original, I was more than happy to see a shot-for-shot, line-for-line remake with the updated visuals, but this is not even close to that. The script sounds like it was written by someone who watched the 1994 film a lot in childhood, and tried to just recreate it from memory having not watched or thought about it for a few years. This in itself might not have ruined things, but it appears as though the entire budget was spent on the pretty CGI and Disney just held a contest at a local high school to cast the screenwriter. It is embarrassingly bad, to the point where you could probably tell which Mufasa lines were new from hearing James Earl Jones's awkward delivery of them, compared to those he spoke in the original.
Changing Scar's relationship with the hyenas, almost entirely cutting "Be Prepared", and casting based on star power rather than ability (see Beyonce, John Oliver and Billy Eichner) were just some of the baffling decisions made here.
Videl
It's just Hamlet with Lions. And the animated versions have more expression. It looked stunning, but it lacked the emotion of the original.Valik
Just watch the original. This version adds nothing. The realism feels weird.It frustrates me so much that they mess up "Can you feel the love tonight" by putting it during the day...
The changes in dialog from the original makes me feel like Mufasa is not portraited as a righteous king as in the original.
Howover, voice acting is on point. Danny Glover is great as adult Simba.
John Olivier and Billy Eichner are excellent as Zazu and Timon respectively.
Seth Rogen as Pumba is a perfect cast in my opinion.
Berrymcgregor
I wasn't expecting much watching this because it's pretty clear nothing can top the original and there really is no point in redoing all classics just as an excuse to make money.But I love the original so much, I had to give it a shot, and I really didn't see it possible to screw something so great...
So the CGI is really beautiful, that's for sure. And the songs will always be amazing. But that's pretty much the end of it.
You can pass through emotions with drawing that you can't with real live animals. The whole movie all felt flat and emotionless and just meh. I was so disappointed.
And why did they butcher "Be Prepared"?! Such a waste.
Torgo
So I had little recollection of the original classic, which fell just into the time of my childhood where Disney films were the epitome of sentimental Hollywood kitsch with too much awkward singing, a course that the studio completed by the end of the 90s and which led to "cooler" new competition by Pixar and Shrek at a later time .. but that's another story.If I had to describe the remake with one word, it would be "empty". It's not a bad film - the story is a classic one - but it doesn't achieve much on an emotional level. With a sheer insane budget of 250 million one of the most expensive productions of all time, the level of animation is not just great, it's pioneering. Imagine showing this to someone from the 1950s: they would straight believe all this is REAL and we somehow found talking lions. Hell, even I today forgot after 20 minutes that every single landscape was computer generated. Sadly, I didn't feel amazed by the view - which I often do with animation, I grant you that - because it's maybe a bit too perfect and, well .. empty. It's just there and that's it.
Someone pointed out John Oliver and that indeed stuck instantly with me; maybe I'm watching his shows too often, but it felt off to me, almost distracting. Perhaps because a bird's beak is too far from talkative? I don't know. Seth Rogen, on the other hand, was perfect. The rest of the voice cast, including Beyonce, did great, too.
Again, not a bad product - but why would you watch it?
Emiam
6/10Good, but if you have seen the animated one from 1994, you do not have to see this one, as frame by frame is "the same movie" but "animated feature film". This was easy money for Disney to make. Beautiful environments and good CGI.
samoan
While the visuals are amazing and it is a well made remake, it is no where near as fun or funny as the original. The original just had better voice acting and signing then this remake did. It still worth watching but I would rather watch the original over and over again.xianjiro
I swear I heard, "Simba. I am your father."HEMA
Amazing visuals. I had no problem with the emotions being more flat.The new cast did a great job in their own right, but for me largely fell short of the original, especially Scar, Timon and Pumba.
The biggest failure though is the butchering of one of the greatest Disney songs ever, be prepared.
panpeter1212
I love the Lion King and I LOVED this, but NOT Beyonce. She was not good in this role in my opinion. I thought it took a lot away from the movie. It seemed like it was making it more about her than the movie.Pauljt1980
Is it just me that’s really disappointed with these live action Disney remakes? All I’ll say is Lion King is the best of a bad bunch. Note to Disney, we prefer the animated versions! Leave them alone now!!!Showing items 1 – 15 of 16