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The Lion King (2019) Review Thread
- Thread starter jack_package_200
- Start date
Review published in Turun Sanomat, the third largest daily newspaper in Finland:
Quick translations of the highlighted parts:
The new version of 1994's Lion King featuring real animals falls flat compared to the original.
A classic story with real actors
The new movie tells the same story, but with real animal actors.
In the new Lion King, they've made the mouths of real animals move believably in sync with the dialogue.
...that it is much more difficult to direct a real animal to give a desired performance than it is with a cartoon character.
Real animals made to talk...
So yeah, the reviewer legitimately thought that they used real animals. The paper later published a correction.
damn lol
People watching this movie when they don't even like it.
This is why this shit has replaced 2D animation.
I did like it, it's not the original but then again it was never my favorite Disney classic growing up. It's dedication to realism just makes it really hard to rewatch, the first time was amazing though, I just wonder how much repeat business this can do.
Did we really need STRONG and FIERCE Nala's Metal Gear stealth escape scene? I don't even really understand, why would Scar care that she is going out to look for food? Isn't that her job... and a good thing?
I thought the forced "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!" girl fight thing was dumb as well. If they wanted to do that why not have Nala actually do something to the hyena back in the day to make her angry, long term booking have baby Nala swipe at her when they were surrounded or something to insinuate they have a feud.
I thought the forced "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!" girl fight thing was dumb as well. If they wanted to do that why not have Nala actually do something to the hyena back in the day to make her angry, long term booking have baby Nala swipe at her when they were surrounded or something to insinuate they have a feud.
Isn't this what basically happened when Simba and Nala were at the Hyena's den where Mufasa had to save them.
I dunno man. I think the original Lion King is actually one of the weaker films of the era. There's some great art direction and songs but the movie always kinda loses me in the third act.
A version of that film that removes all the vivid art direction and expression sounds like a chore.
Also, they can't do villains anymore? They fucked up Jafar, the MVP of Aladdin, and I guess they fucked up Scar. Two iconic characters that made those films memorable and fun.
It's like they don't understand the appeal of their own movies outside of the brand - which apparently IS enough.
A version of that film that removes all the vivid art direction and expression sounds like a chore.
Also, they can't do villains anymore? They fucked up Jafar, the MVP of Aladdin, and I guess they fucked up Scar. Two iconic characters that made those films memorable and fun.
It's like they don't understand the appeal of their own movies outside of the brand - which apparently IS enough.
I found the whole thing very average. I also made a special effort to go to IMAX and not even that did much. Not been a great summer as I thought Toy Story 4 and Spiderman were pretty average as well.
Aladdin was great though, didn't think that would be my favourite out of they four few months ago.
Aladdin was great though, didn't think that would be my favourite out of they four few months ago.
Watched lion king again, and it clicked about the direction for less "emotive" lions. we're watching lions and animals doing animal things, and the english we hear is just like, "translated".
multiple times in the movie when they talk they have lion growls or roars under the speaking, so the lack of "emotive" expressions is just like looking at a real lion or cat. makes sense now.
maybe cats and lions do sing in their "language" which we don't understand. I think it works for the direction it went.
The 2019 is just as rewatchable as 1994 imo, and being able to watch both is pretty cool.
Edit: I also think being a cat owner helps understand the movie a bit more since the body language of the lions are very similar to real cats. You pick up on various things just from that. It hit my girlfriend hard for Mufasa more so than the 94 version. I also admit it hit me a little harder seeing simba try to lay with him. (But the fall itself was ironically funny to me in this version)
multiple times in the movie when they talk they have lion growls or roars under the speaking, so the lack of "emotive" expressions is just like looking at a real lion or cat. makes sense now.
maybe cats and lions do sing in their "language" which we don't understand. I think it works for the direction it went.
The 2019 is just as rewatchable as 1994 imo, and being able to watch both is pretty cool.
Edit: I also think being a cat owner helps understand the movie a bit more since the body language of the lions are very similar to real cats. You pick up on various things just from that. It hit my girlfriend hard for Mufasa more so than the 94 version. I also admit it hit me a little harder seeing simba try to lay with him. (But the fall itself was ironically funny to me in this version)
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A Lion becoming vegan with his warthog and meerkat posse and being lectured by a wise old baboon isn't exactly just watching animals do animal things.
(haven't seen the 2019 one yet, just assuming that part wasn't cut since its supposed to be almost a 1:1 movie)
Didnt know it couldnt suspend belief. Cmon now.
You're missing the rest of the interpretation I got from the movie and what I percieved was the direction behind why it looks the way it does.
Did it? I don't remember. But yea that would be the spot to put Nala doing something to her if it wasn't.
Dark Phoenix was great.Before anyone says "But the audience reviews are fresh, that must mean it's good right?"
Remember that even Dark Phoenix got a fresh audience score.
I haven't laughed as hard as the staircase scene at any scene in any other comedy this year. And my local dub elevated this movie to even greater heights, with lines such as "No Xavier, you can barely stand on your feet" (said to him in the infirmary).
Truly the comedy of the year.
Just got back from it. Saw the original like... 20 years ago?
Movie was good, but they needed to emote the animals just a littttttttle bit more to hit that sweet spot of Planet Earth meets characters with human tendencies. This was really needed during super emotional scenes where actors were crying or yelling out in anguish, but the faces stayed pretty plain.
Timon and Pumbaa were by far the best part and I would legit watch a spinoff Disney+ series starring Rogen and Eichner.
Movie was good, but they needed to emote the animals just a littttttttle bit more to hit that sweet spot of Planet Earth meets characters with human tendencies. This was really needed during super emotional scenes where actors were crying or yelling out in anguish, but the faces stayed pretty plain.
Timon and Pumbaa were by far the best part and I would legit watch a spinoff Disney+ series starring Rogen and Eichner.
Same reaction from my wife and I.
The realistic version of Simba made it harder.
And I have a cat too. That's what I've been trying to say several times. People focus too much on the faces and don't see the body language.
Boy was I disappointed with this one.
It was beat per beat the same film but cut even shorter than the 2d one...the voice acting was subpar, the "be prepared" musical number is poor and cut short... Beyoncé's new song, hmph... Zazzu was bad... and the film wasn't as vibrant as I thought it would look. The Jungle Book really popped but the colour palet in this one, dunno fell flat to me.
I have to say though really enjoyed Timon and Pumbaa
It was beat per beat the same film but cut even shorter than the 2d one...the voice acting was subpar, the "be prepared" musical number is poor and cut short... Beyoncé's new song, hmph... Zazzu was bad... and the film wasn't as vibrant as I thought it would look. The Jungle Book really popped but the colour palet in this one, dunno fell flat to me.
I have to say though really enjoyed Timon and Pumbaa
This is basically how I feel after seeing it tonight, except I'd say the animals should've emoted quite a bit more.
It's really disappointing because stuff like the Rafiki firefly scene was really well done and, I feel, hit that sweet spot. But other parts just aren't there. Occasionally there will be a scene/moment were it feels like a lot more care and attention went in to everything, but then it goes back to this sort of odd and bland copy.
Pretty sure it was. Nala does something to try and protect Simba and they have an interaction that the later scene is a pay off for.
OP
OP
Yeah it's been dropping in the past week along with it's average...it's doing worse than I thought.
OP
OP
I know it won't dip below 50 but that's pretty appalling numbers for this.
The appeal was seeing realistic lions and I'd say it did it's job for me. John Oliver should have never attempted to sing and Beyonce really was underused for being such a big name attached to the movie, Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner had way more to do.
Maybe they limited Beyoncé's screen time because they too realized that she was shit.
Beyonce was used more in this version than her character in the original - to a fault.
The worst part of her performance was her attempts to deliver the new, yet crappy dialog - especially in the 3rd act. Whenever they stuck closer to the source material , she was actually fine.
I assumed when I saw that she was attached that they beefed up her role in a significant manner and all she really got was that scene where she snuck out of the Pride Lands. I mean Zazu is used very sparsely in the original and there's way more of him in this one.
Oof. I just came out of this - I didn't hate it but wow it doesn't capture the magic of the original at all. I'd say everything up to Hakuna Matada is decent to good, but it totally lost me once Simba became an adult.
The reviews were right in that Timon and Pumba are the best parts of the movie, but they have to share screentime with Glover's adult Simba - who is a total charisma drain. This might be the least favorite thing I've ever seen him in - he doesn't even sound like he wants to be there.
Beyonce as Nala felt super out of place for me too, I could tell too easily that it was Beyonce.
I could also easily tell that it was John Oliver as Zazu - but it worked really well for me and I thought he was one of the better parts of the movie.
Can You Feel the Love Tonight is hilariously awkward for reasons you know when you see what they've done with it. Glover sounds like an amateur next to Beyonce as well.
I thought I would hate Scar based on word of mouth but he wasn't bad - he just couldn't capture the magic of the original. That's really what this movie is. It's okay but it just loses the wonder and majesty of the animated version.
The reviews were right in that Timon and Pumba are the best parts of the movie, but they have to share screentime with Glover's adult Simba - who is a total charisma drain. This might be the least favorite thing I've ever seen him in - he doesn't even sound like he wants to be there.
Beyonce as Nala felt super out of place for me too, I could tell too easily that it was Beyonce.
I could also easily tell that it was John Oliver as Zazu - but it worked really well for me and I thought he was one of the better parts of the movie.
Can You Feel the Love Tonight is hilariously awkward for reasons you know when you see what they've done with it. Glover sounds like an amateur next to Beyonce as well.
I thought I would hate Scar based on word of mouth but he wasn't bad - he just couldn't capture the magic of the original. That's really what this movie is. It's okay but it just loses the wonder and majesty of the animated version.
Throughout the movie I wondered if I became a cynical fuck.
Because I couldn't connect to the characters at all. I felt nothing.
Sigh.
Because I couldn't connect to the characters at all. I felt nothing.
Sigh.
Just saw the movie and boy am I mixed about it. It's an incredible production with tons of talent attached to it, just a spectacular job by the VFX team bringing this to life, but it just doesn't translate well to a realistic style and it ends up feeling creatively bankrupt in the process due to how much it feels like a shot by shot recreation of the original.
My biggest problem with this production is that they have clearly spent a ton of effort in making something really special in terms of the production values, but their adherence to realism makes them unable to capture the feel of f the original. "I just can't wait to be king" was the moment that completely broke me, it was so lifeless and boring compared to the creative visuals of the original.
I will say that the voice cast was absolutely spot on, Timon and Pumba ended up being the best part of the movie because they actually felt like cartoon clowns with larger than life personalities reflected by the way they move.
My biggest problem with this production is that they have clearly spent a ton of effort in making something really special in terms of the production values, but their adherence to realism makes them unable to capture the feel of f the original. "I just can't wait to be king" was the moment that completely broke me, it was so lifeless and boring compared to the creative visuals of the original.
I will say that the voice cast was absolutely spot on, Timon and Pumba ended up being the best part of the movie because they actually felt like cartoon clowns with larger than life personalities reflected by the way they move.
I adopted a cat from a rescue back in March, and I absolutely loved how accurately they recreated the subtle things that cats do when the move and even emote. The body language of the lions was so, so good, and baby Simba reminded me of my cat so much, I kept wanting to just go home and play with her. The movie was overall solid. The Lion King is one of my favorite Disney animated films, and yeah, a part of me certainly found myself comparing the too, but overall, I enjoyed it. I do wish they had made the lions a little more stylized (not as stylized as that weird looking "fix" somebody created a little while back, but mainly just making the faces slightly more emotive, without pushing too far to cartoony), so the emotions would read better, but yeah, as a cat owner, I totally picked up on a lot of the subtleties of what the animators pulled off. Visually, the movie is incredibly beautiful.
The remake's "Can you feel the love tonight" has more problems than the time of day.
Did you like when Simba swung into the water?
Did you like when he dragged Nala in?
Did you like when Nala pushed him back in with a playful smile on her face?
Did you like when they rolled down that hill?
Did you like when Nala licked Simba's face then Simba has a surprised look?
Did you like Nala's cute smile?
Did you like them cuddling with happy looks?
I sure hope you didn't, because if you did you'll be crying not because of the "touching moment", but because the remake got rid of them all. I still think "Be prepared" got the worst treatment, but still. While we're on the topic of Scar by the way, I've been watching The Lion Guard and while he's no Jeremy, David's Scar is no slouch either. I don't think he's as sarcastic as Jeremy, but he's still got it. One of my favorite lines from him is something on the lines of "Yes, you did forget to mention that "tiny little detail". He sounds so menacing, yet sarcastic at the same time. In fact, the episode he last starred in wasn't that far before the remake came out. Probably like only a week.
Did you like when Simba swung into the water?
Did you like when he dragged Nala in?
Did you like when Nala pushed him back in with a playful smile on her face?
Did you like when they rolled down that hill?
Did you like when Nala licked Simba's face then Simba has a surprised look?
Did you like Nala's cute smile?
Did you like them cuddling with happy looks?
I sure hope you didn't, because if you did you'll be crying not because of the "touching moment", but because the remake got rid of them all. I still think "Be prepared" got the worst treatment, but still. While we're on the topic of Scar by the way, I've been watching The Lion Guard and while he's no Jeremy, David's Scar is no slouch either. I don't think he's as sarcastic as Jeremy, but he's still got it. One of my favorite lines from him is something on the lines of "Yes, you did forget to mention that "tiny little detail". He sounds so menacing, yet sarcastic at the same time. In fact, the episode he last starred in wasn't that far before the remake came out. Probably like only a week.
A bit late to the party to this one. Long story short is that everyone involved with this remake should be ashamed. The directing, the script, the voice acting, the score, everything was much worse than the original. Shit, I don't think they would be able to make a worse version even if they tried.
I'm also a little LTTP but ... can we talk about the sequence where Simba's tuff of hair reaches Rafiki?
W.T.F!
It felt like an SNL gag: it went on for way too long including travelling through - of all things - giraffe dung!
What were the writers thinking??
W.T.F!
It felt like an SNL gag: it went on for way too long including travelling through - of all things - giraffe dung!
What were the writers thinking??
That sucked, but more or less the whole movie was like that. Cut or shorten something that was good in the original and replace it with some filler that adds nothing, butcher the originals GOAT score just to add a generic Beyonce song etc.
People like you are part of the reason we keep getting these limp remakes.
People go see them "out of curiosity". People go see them knowing they'll pale to the originals, or even straight up bad. I really wish people would stop (or start?) voting with their wallets on these fucking things. And Disney don't give two shits what people think about their movies as long as they keep selling.
I know I'm not a part of the problem cuz I don't and won't support these while they continue to look like phoned in, soulless, poor nostalgia cash grabs.
