Monday, July 29, 2019

Movie Review Madness - The Lion King

As Ray and I walked into the theater, Ray overheard a kid say to his mom, "I'm excited. It's going to be tough to not sing out loud."

Well, it wasn't that hard actually. Hakuna Matata is darn catchy. Circle of Life soars.  But I'm going to place The Lion King movie (live action CGI version) third behind the original animated version (first place), and the Broadway show (second). This movie version is good, but a bit slow, a bit ponderous, and just lacked that super wow factor I felt when I watched director Jon Favreau's version of the Jungle Book.  Kids were getting restless in the audience, and I admit I checked my watch.

The CGI filming is awesome. It's quite amazing and I appreciate that part of the movie magic. The voice acting is good - you can't go wrong with James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Eijofor is evil as Scar, Donald Glover is good as Simba, and Beyonce rules as Nala. Seth Rogen cracked me up a lot as the warthog, Pumba.

I was entertained, glad I saw it on the big screen, but there was just something missing - maybe I set my expectation bar a tad too high. I'd watch the original again in a heartbeat, this version - maybe not.   The Lion King did not ROAR in capital letters in my opinion.


9 comments:

  1. Pleased you were entertained Joanne, I recall Britain's Elton John had a hit with that song from the original Lion King.

    Yvonne.

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  2. I trust your perspective and will stick with the animated version. A couple of my friends paid $12 for the 3-day glasses. They weren't roaring either.

    Have a great week, Joanne.

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    1. I don't do 3D stuff - I need dramamine for that

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  3. The animated version just had it all, a remake seemed stupid, especially since there are no people in the movie. So why make it live action? Cash grab. I'm sure it's a watch, but like you say, doesn't have any reason to watch more than once.

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    1. they got my matinee cash and we were entertained in comfy seats and airconditioning. It just was not nearly as awesome as I expected.

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  4. I always why movie people try to match the charm of the original.

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    1. sometimes it can work. Beauty and the Beast did. Jungle Book did. This one just lacked that extra zing.

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  5. I haven't seen this one yet. Sorry to hear it wasn't as good as you hoped it would be. I loved the animated version.

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