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The Lion King (2019) Review Thread
- Thread starter jack_package_200
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Donald Glover and Childish Gambino are the same person.
Was his rap name
This thread was making me sad and then I read this comment and now I'm chuckling to myself so thank you for brightening my day
I've heard this before, and it seems weird to me. A B-crew film they didn't expect to be big, yet drew the voice talents of James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jeremy Irons? What?
That was just common practice for all animated films at that point and something the industry was doing in earnest after Aladdin. LOTS of animated films were coming out with "celebrity" voice casts around that time, regardless of budget. It's not like 1993's "We're Back, A Dinosaur Story" had half the budget or push that Disney's films had, yet it had John Goodman, Jay Leno, Martin Short, even friggin' Walter Cronkite in it.
It was more that the production talent is what was "B-tier", because they moved all their best animators to Pocahontas as their "prestige" film. The big wigs, like Glenn Keane, were on that film doing admittedly mind-breaking animation work on stuff like "Colors of the Wind", and they got their best song writers on Pocahontas. Alan Menken was put on Pocahontas. The Lion King crew decided to do what they did with Oliver & Company and go with a pop song writer, using Elton John instead of his buddy Billy Joel.
For perspective, Lion King had a budget of $45 million while Pocahontas had a budget of $55 million. That may seem like a lot for both, but both were being worked on simultaneously, and one received a bigger push than the other internally.
So yeah, just got out of the movie and I thibk this might be the worst (new) movie I've watched so far this year. It's exactly like the original, but somehow worse in every single way.
Sure, the visuals are impressive and I liked some of the new Timon and Pumbaa banter, but goddamn as an actual movie this just fails on every single front. It's more like a really impressive tech demo.
The look of the animals is a real issue though. Besides the non-expressions (young Simba literally always looks the same), the different animals also seem barely distinguishable. The three hyenas look pretty much the same, Nala and Sarabi look the same, in the climax I even had issues separating Simba and Scar.
The acting is surpringly bad as well. Timon and Pumbaa are okay, but Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen are basically just doing what they always do only this time with the Lion King script. The rest is dry as fuck, especially Nala and Simba. Can we just stop trying to make Beyoncé as an actress happen, please? And Donald, can you please give a fuck, I know you can do better than this.
It also feels incredibly long as multiple scenes are just lenghtened to an insane level and the 2 new scenes here are completely pointless. Also, some of the scenes they chose to cut short are... interesting. Full list of the changes as I remember it in the spoilers:
Sure, the visuals are impressive and I liked some of the new Timon and Pumbaa banter, but goddamn as an actual movie this just fails on every single front. It's more like a really impressive tech demo.
The look of the animals is a real issue though. Besides the non-expressions (young Simba literally always looks the same), the different animals also seem barely distinguishable. The three hyenas look pretty much the same, Nala and Sarabi look the same, in the climax I even had issues separating Simba and Scar.
The acting is surpringly bad as well. Timon and Pumbaa are okay, but Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen are basically just doing what they always do only this time with the Lion King script. The rest is dry as fuck, especially Nala and Simba. Can we just stop trying to make Beyoncé as an actress happen, please? And Donald, can you please give a fuck, I know you can do better than this.
It also feels incredibly long as multiple scenes are just lenghtened to an insane level and the 2 new scenes here are completely pointless. Also, some of the scenes they chose to cut short are... interesting. Full list of the changes as I remember it in the spoilers:
- There's a lengthy scene added with Scar wanting to fuck Sarabi and Nala sneaking away to find Simba. It last for about 10 minutes and seems to just exist to cover the CinemaSins-level critique of "it makes no sense that Nala would just run off".
- There's a scene added where Timon tells Simba about his views on the circle of life idea and why it's bullshit, then they catch some ants. Honestly had no issue with this one scene.
- Remember how in the original movie Simba loses a tuft of hair and it ends up at Rafiki's? Yeah, that scene is 5 minutes long now for some reason and shows the entire journey of the tuft of hair.
- The climactic battle sequence is now a lengthy, all-out big Hollywood action scene where every single character gets their own dedicated moment to fight. Yes, even Zazu.
- Timon and Pumbaa now have a whole bunch of animal friends and the Lion Sleeps Tonight scene is twice as long as it originally was, with all the animal friends joining in
- No Ed, all prominent hyenas talk now
- The unfortunate racial implications of the hyenas have been changed to "the hyenas and the lions are at war", so now it's okay, I guess?
- The scene where Rafiki slaps Simba has been changed. In fact, he doesn't have his staff at all until the climax, when he triumphantly grabs it and claims it's good to have it back as if this is a plotline that exists in the movie (it isn't).
- Speaking of non-plotlines. During the climax Nala squares off against Shenzi and they exchange some dialogue about having looked forward to this for a long time. Again, the movie never establishes any sort of rivalry between those two specifically, so it just feels empty.
- The song Spirit by Beyoncé plays when Simba runs back home, it's stupid, the original song was much better.
- As discussed by many before, what they did with Be Prepared should be illegal.
- There's a scene added where Timon tells Simba about his views on the circle of life idea and why it's bullshit, then they catch some ants. Honestly had no issue with this one scene.
- Remember how in the original movie Simba loses a tuft of hair and it ends up at Rafiki's? Yeah, that scene is 5 minutes long now for some reason and shows the entire journey of the tuft of hair.
- The climactic battle sequence is now a lengthy, all-out big Hollywood action scene where every single character gets their own dedicated moment to fight. Yes, even Zazu.
- Timon and Pumbaa now have a whole bunch of animal friends and the Lion Sleeps Tonight scene is twice as long as it originally was, with all the animal friends joining in
- No Ed, all prominent hyenas talk now
- The unfortunate racial implications of the hyenas have been changed to "the hyenas and the lions are at war", so now it's okay, I guess?
- The scene where Rafiki slaps Simba has been changed. In fact, he doesn't have his staff at all until the climax, when he triumphantly grabs it and claims it's good to have it back as if this is a plotline that exists in the movie (it isn't).
- Speaking of non-plotlines. During the climax Nala squares off against Shenzi and they exchange some dialogue about having looked forward to this for a long time. Again, the movie never establishes any sort of rivalry between those two specifically, so it just feels empty.
- The song Spirit by Beyoncé plays when Simba runs back home, it's stupid, the original song was much better.
- As discussed by many before, what they did with Be Prepared should be illegal.
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I've been combing through every clip of the film in this thread and good lord, everyone in the trailer threads who mentioned the lack of emotion in the performances due to the dedication to photo-realism was absolutely spot-on. There is is just zero personality on display.
Also color me disappointed they chose to just keep "Circle of Life" as it was. I was kinda hoping they'd infuse it with elements from the stage musical version, which is so freaking awesome:
Also color me disappointed they chose to just keep "Circle of Life" as it was. I was kinda hoping they'd infuse it with elements from the stage musical version, which is so freaking awesome:
I would just wait, this does nothing to enhance the original. It's literally the same movie.
All this stuff about the lack of expressions is interesting to me. You're being asked to get into this musical drama about animals with minimal anthropomorphism, and for some, it amounts to something like the effect of removing a laugh track.
I'm seeing the movie on Saturday. Semi-looking forward to it, semi-dreading it.
I'm seeing the movie on Saturday. Semi-looking forward to it, semi-dreading it.
I have some issues and it absolutely doesn't touch the original but it was a very entertaining two hours.
Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa were a highlight.
My main issues:
- Mouth movement was strange at times due to the photorealism.
- I legitimately could not tell what Rafiki was saying in his first two scenes. My partner turned to me to say it as I was thinking it.
- I wasn't a huge fan of Beyonce's voice in these songs. It didn't sound right.
For what it's worth, the audience was completely packed at the IMAX theater tonight and after the film, they were all very positive on the film. I'm curious to see if that ends up being common and if it leads to strong word of mouth like Aladdin or if more people will be turned off by what I listed above.
Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa were a highlight.
My main issues:
- Mouth movement was strange at times due to the photorealism.
- I legitimately could not tell what Rafiki was saying in his first two scenes. My partner turned to me to say it as I was thinking it.
- I wasn't a huge fan of Beyonce's voice in these songs. It didn't sound right.
For what it's worth, the audience was completely packed at the IMAX theater tonight and after the film, they were all very positive on the film. I'm curious to see if that ends up being common and if it leads to strong word of mouth like Aladdin or if more people will be turned off by what I listed above.
Ahahahahahahahahahahah.
That somehow looks like an incredible technical feat and something made for the Hallmark network at the same time.
Go see it! Our family (who all love the original) thought it was great!
I also honestly don't understand the critique that the animals are emotionless. They just do it in ways actual animals would and not with exaggerated animation that would have looked silly considering the style they were going for.
More like 'competent' director with a mix of legit actors and some famous people. Disney looking for a cash grab.
The only point to making this movie was money.
looool
Just got back from the theater, this movie just made me feel weird, I didn't like it at all.
It felt like I was watching a nature documentary with clips spliced to sync up with The Lion King, and then the animals were singing and talking without any emotion on top of that.
It felt like I was watching a nature documentary with clips spliced to sync up with The Lion King, and then the animals were singing and talking without any emotion on top of that.
91% audience score, looks like it's going to get the same audience score as Aladdin or similar.
I did not like Beyoncé as Nala either, and it was because of the same problem I have whenever Beyoncé does any character, instead of Beyoncé portraying that character, it usually turns out to be what it would be like if that character was trying to talk and act like Beyoncé.
Saw this a couple hours ago. Thought it was horrible. The animation, and photo realism is stunning. But everything is so... god... damned... lifeless.
You can't feel any of the emotion from these things because the voice work doesn't match the facial animation at all. Simba's voice work during the big death scene is him crying through his words, but his expression is just fucking blank. This problem persists throughout the film. Even James Earl Jones' performance was bad. All his original dialogue has been horribly butchered. It's all flat, and easily the most jarring performance in the film. We go from "you deLIBERATELY... disobeyedme. And what's worse, You put NAALLA in danger" to "youdeliberatelydisobeyedme. And what'sworse, youputnalaindanger". Just lifeless.
Things liven up when Eichner, and Rogen are doing their thing. But Ejiofor is a miss, Prepare... Prepare... Prepare... be prepared. What the fuck? And can you feel the love tonight during the day? The hell were they thinking? Glover and Beyoncé are fine, but again, the faces break all immersion.
It's a shot for shot remake, only "live action" and slightly slowed down. The musical numbers are a huge miss. It's like watching nature footage with the songs slapped on top. No creativity, no color, no fun. This whole thing is a failed experiment, at least on a creative level.
The positive I have to say, is that the music is good, but it was better then. Everything is just flatter here. And when the emotional bits of music play, they don't hit because you're not connected to these creatures. It's fucking weird. Don't see this. Please.
You can't feel any of the emotion from these things because the voice work doesn't match the facial animation at all. Simba's voice work during the big death scene is him crying through his words, but his expression is just fucking blank. This problem persists throughout the film. Even James Earl Jones' performance was bad. All his original dialogue has been horribly butchered. It's all flat, and easily the most jarring performance in the film. We go from "you deLIBERATELY... disobeyedme. And what's worse, You put NAALLA in danger" to "youdeliberatelydisobeyedme. And what'sworse, youputnalaindanger". Just lifeless.
Things liven up when Eichner, and Rogen are doing their thing. But Ejiofor is a miss, Prepare... Prepare... Prepare... be prepared. What the fuck? And can you feel the love tonight during the day? The hell were they thinking? Glover and Beyoncé are fine, but again, the faces break all immersion.
It's a shot for shot remake, only "live action" and slightly slowed down. The musical numbers are a huge miss. It's like watching nature footage with the songs slapped on top. No creativity, no color, no fun. This whole thing is a failed experiment, at least on a creative level.
The positive I have to say, is that the music is good, but it was better then. Everything is just flatter here. And when the emotional bits of music play, they don't hit because you're not connected to these creatures. It's fucking weird. Don't see this. Please.
Well said. I can't disagree with anything here.
I was laughing out loud at what was suppose to be emotionally gripping scenes. That should not happen.
I'm a lion king fan, and I'm sad to say that I enjoyed the Aladdin remake more than this. How the hell is this possible?! The only thing I really loved about this remake was how real it looked and the soundtrack.
Have people watched the behind-the-scenes recording?
It baffles me how they were able to record together in the studio, and even on a soundstage, and yet the VA is still much poorer than it was in 1994, when the actors had to record separately (and, according to Matthew Broderick, months apart).
Edit: According to Donald Glover, he and Beyoncé never recorded together. It kind of shows.
It baffles me how they were able to record together in the studio, and even on a soundstage, and yet the VA is still much poorer than it was in 1994, when the actors had to record separately (and, according to Matthew Broderick, months apart).
Edit: According to Donald Glover, he and Beyoncé never recorded together. It kind of shows.
To be fair, Disney has always invested heavily in the voice actors. Even the straight to video stuff they send out to die tends to have a few big names.
And it begins. Feel that people just follow with the negative energy wave
That some people like it, doesn't mean that the people who don't are wrong or just herd animals following the critics.
I really, really didn't like it, but I'm not gonna say that people who did are wrong. Except for that one person on another forum who said that the animals' expressions are better than in the original, that's just factually wrong.
Scar lusting after Nala was adopted straight from the Broadway version.
It's a shame that they didn't adopt Shadowlands. It would have been so much better than replacing Busa with Spirit.
It's a shame that they didn't adopt Shadowlands. It would have been so much better than replacing Busa with Spirit.
This is what happens when you produce an inferior version to something so beloved and revered. It's very hard to enjoy this new version, especially if you are pre-occupied with all the negative criticism.
I think that kids will be really happy with the movie, but the 1994 will always remain the much superior version.
My worry is that kids will see this first and then consider the 1994 one to be dated because of its cartoony style, much like when someone from our generation looks at a Marx Brothers film.
I would keep in mind that this place is especially negative with a lot of movies.
This is fresh on rotten tomatoes. Most other places I have seen the describe the movie have just said it's ok. Not bad but not amazing.
For some people there only two outcomes...amazing or complete trash.
No, it isn't?
At the end of the day, much like with Aladdin, there's just too much of the original's skeleton here for the "just wanna be entertained for two hours" crowd not to like it. But it is also clear that it is a much shoddier version of that film in pretty much every way. You just have to look at the botched music cues when Simba starts walking up Pride Rock and roaring to see that it's trying to be a facsimile of TLK rather than having an actual vision as a film.
I think the main reason for that is simply because it's a remake of one of the most adored animated movies ever. And yet the movie struggles to be fresh on RT (right now it's "rotten") and the only thing it offers (a new coat of paint) required the movie to do a lot of cuts. Being "meh" or just "it was OK" is still bad for "The Lion King" movie.
Yes, it is:
EDIT: nvm, brain fart.
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So a friend of mine who saw the movie told me that Rafiki doesn't act like Bruce Lee in the third act.
INSTANT FAIL.
INSTANT FAIL.
I'm sure the movie could do a lot of things better. It seems really hard to please people though. Reading this thread you have people who says they hate that the film is a direct copy of the original, at the same time some are saying they hate all the changes and wish they had just remade every shot. People are experiencing this movie in very different ways, and I'm not sure anyone knows what they expected from this. Did anyone expect it to be better than the original though? I don't think so.
I recommend seeing it for yourself. A lot of people like it, and you can enjoy even if it's inferior to the original. Maybe you'll hate it, but I don't think you'll know until you see it. The trailers did a poor job of selling it, and there's a lot of negative feedback based on those.
I recommend seeing it for yourself. A lot of people like it, and you can enjoy even if it's inferior to the original. Maybe you'll hate it, but I don't think you'll know until you see it. The trailers did a poor job of selling it, and there's a lot of negative feedback based on those.
The changes that people are complaining about are things they removed though, yeah? So it all comes back to the same complaint-- the movie is just a worse looking and less interesting version of the Lion King. When your movie offers less than the original while still failing to deliver on the parts that are there, you've got problems.
No there are new scenes, but some seem to not notice that. Maybe it's been a while since they saw the original.
I think the main reason for that is simply because it's a remake of one of the most adored animated movies ever. And yet the movie struggles to be fresh on RT (right now it's "rotten") and the only thing it offers (a new coat of paint) required the movie to do a lot of cuts. Being "meh" or just "it was OK" is still bad for "The Lion King" movie.
Yes, it is:
Bruh, the green means rotten lmao
Saw it last night in Vegas in IMAX. Enjoyed most of the modern sensibilities it brought to the same characters, namely giving more screen time to the lionesses, giving Simba a new VA and making the hyenas more sympathetic than in the original.
The biggest criticism I have is that very little has changed from the original material. Some of the changes, like the ones above, make sense. But I feel as though Aladdin had more all around, making for a more surprising film in the context of a CG/live action remake.
The audience clapped after it was over, funny enough - I haven't experienced anything like that since in a US movie theater myself until today.
The biggest criticism I have is that very little has changed from the original material. Some of the changes, like the ones above, make sense. But I feel as though Aladdin had more all around, making for a more surprising film in the context of a CG/live action remake.
The audience clapped after it was over, funny enough - I haven't experienced anything like that since in a US movie theater myself until today.
But that's not what the complaints are about is my point. It's not that the complaints are inconsistent and they can't please anyone because of it, all of the complaints are direct about why the movie is bad/worse than what came out over 20 years ago.