The Lion King (2019)

The Lion King © Walt Disney Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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Director:	Jon Favreau
Writers:	Jeff Nathanson, Brenda Chapman
Cast:	Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Billy Eichner, John Oliver, Keegan-Michael Key, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, James Earl Jones
Released:	Friday, July 19, 2019
Length:	118 minutes
Studio:	Walt Disney Pictures
Genre:	Family
Rating:	Some material may not be suitable for children.

Synopsis

From Disney Live Action, director Jon Favreau’s all-new “The Lion King” journeys to the African savanna where a future king must overcome betrayal and tragedy to assume his rightful place on Pride Rock.

Download The Lion King in Digital HD from the iTunes store.

Listen to the The Lion King soundtrack on Apple Music.

The Lion King Already King of the Box Office This Week  7/19/2019 2:10 PM EST
Disney's The Lion King has proved they are the top of the food chain this week, with box office earnings already passing $130 million in international sales. It has already reached $23 million in North America with their preview showings last night, which makes them second only to "Avengers: Endgame", which earned a record $60 million.China leads the international market in sales with over $76 mil...  More>>

The Walt Disney Company Announces Protect the Pride Campaign to ...  6/6/2019 12:07 AM EST
In order to commemorate the release of the upcoming live-action remake of "The Lion King", The Walt Disney Company and Wildlife Conservation Network's Lion Recovery Fund have launched the "Protect the Pride" campaign. The campaign focuses on protecting and revitalizing lion populations and the habitats they need to thrive. Disney has already donated more than $1.5 million to the Wildlife Conserva...  More>>

Beyoncé Joins the Cast of The Lion King  11/2/2017 10:08 AM EST
It was announced on Wednesday that Beyoncé has joined the cast of Disney's upcoming live-action film, "The Lion King". She will be playing the role of Nala.The film already has an all-star cast including James Earl Jones, who will be reprising his role of Mufasa, Donald Glover as Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Alfre Woodard as Sarabi. Also starring in the film is John Ol...  More>>

John Oliver Cast as Zazu in The Lion King  7/11/2017 11:19 AM EST
John Oliver has been cast to voice the character of Zazu in Disney's upcoming live-action The Lion King remake.Zazu, who was voiced by Rowan Atkinson in the original, is a red-billed hornbill who tries to carry himself with dignity but often finds himself losing his cool. Oliver has previously lent his voice to the Smurfs franchise as Vanity Smurf, as well as episodes of The Simpsons and Robot Chi...  More>>

The Lion King Theatrical Review

It was 25 years ago that Disney brought us their animated version of the classic Shakespearean play, Hamlet. The Lion King offered wonderful animation, an original soundtrack created by Tim Rice and Elton John and a somewhat humorous look at the animal kingdom. For ninety minutes, it entertained audiences and eventually grossed almost a billion dollars worldwide. The music probably became more well known that the actual movie and the characters but the film is considered one of the new Disney classics. In Disney's ongoing trend of reimagining their animated films as live-action movies, The Lion King is the most recent one to receive this treatment and the third one this year.

Mustafa (James Earl Jones; Field of Dreams) is the king of Pride Rock much to the dismay of his brother, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor; 12 Years a Slave) and once Mustafa's son, Simba (Donald Glover; Solo: A Star Wars Story) is born Scar becomes more upset. In an effort to become king he devises a plan to get rid of Simba, which unfortunately doesn't pan out. Scar then decides to kill his brother, Mustafa and make Simba think it was his fault convincing Simba to run away and never come back.

Scar, of course, takes the throne and becomes king allowing the hyenas to run wild and overrun the kingdom. Fearing for their lands, Nala (Beyonce; Dreamgirls), Simba's childhood friend, runs off to try to find help. She eventually comes across an adult Simba who she thought was dead and tells him what has happened to their land once Scar became king. Together they return to Pride Rock where Simba fights his Uncle and the truth is revealed, that Scar, not Simba, actually killed Mustafa. Simba eventually defeats Scar and takes his rightful place as King, with Nala by his side.

While most of the cast is very good, Jones is, of course, wonderful returning as the voice of the king, Mustafa. John Oliver (The Smurfs) is also great as Zazu, the bird bringing some levity to the film. Young Simba (JD McCrary; K.C. Undercover) is strong as well. Unfortunately, Glover and Beyonce are less than stellar and their voices don't blend well on the iconic song Can you feel the love tonight. Part of the problem is that the audio is not mixed well and all the voices seem one-dimensional making the performances and the songs fall flat.

The visuals, on the other hand, are breathtaking and magnificent and the graphics are strong for the most part. The scenery of the African plains is incredible with layer upon layer of depth and color while the animals are authentic and, most of the time, the CGI is very well done with only a few minor hiccups here and there.

There are moments Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) spends a bit too much time on but the pacing doesn't seem slow for the most part. The opening visuals are shot for shot from the 1994 version but the vocals on Circle of Life leave something to be desired which is sad because it should have been one of the signature pieces of the movie and the song doesn't meet the expectations that the visuals layout in front of the viewer.

The Lion King has been a staple of the Disney catalog for the past twenty-five years and since the announcement of this live-action, version fans have been anxiously waiting to see the final product. Would it be as good as the original? How would they pull off the live-action with animals? Would the cast be able to live up to expectations?

I'm happy to report that for the most part, Disney has done well with this one. Casting choices may not have been the best but Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) manages to put together a fairly strong rendition of the film and let's face it – it's Disney, it's a beloved film and looks really good. It is certainly the strongest of the three live-action "reimagined" films they have released this year so I have no doubts they will have another box office winner on their hands.

Grade: B

-- Allison Skornick-Rose

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