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.

Movie Review Madness - Solo

I went into the new Star Wars prequel Solo with no preconceived ideas.  I am not a fanatic and I was fine with a backstory for Han Solo. No -  Alden Ehrenreich does not look like Harrison Ford. He’s his own person and frankly imbues the young Han Solo with the right amount of arrogance and bravado.  Director Ron Howard pulls out a decent ride in the Millennium Falcon (now we know how it became Han’s ship). Solo is a fun entertaining two hours or so with plenty of air battles, bad guys, good guys, and Han as our intergalactic rogue hero.

Here’s a scrappy young man just trying to live, trying to break free from life on his crappy planet. We find out how he does escape, but what happens to Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) his love? Han hooks up with a band of mercenaries (Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton) to pull off a heist. Well – drat they collide with Crimson Dawn and that’s not good.  Is he reunited with Qi’ra and under what circumstances? Will she kill him? We learn how he meets Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and begins a lifelong friendship. Who is Lando (a charming Donald Glover)?  How did Han get the Millennium Falcon from him?

There’s a lot of double crosses going on, air battles, air pirates, crazy creatures, and of course evil abounds. Through it all, Ehrenreich is earnest and endearing. Oh he’s slick and has his street smarts. He’s a fantastic pilot with mad skills. He’s still a bit trusting, but is learning. He leans toward being a loner….and yet he’s loyal to Chewbacca. And then there’s Qi’ra – good/evil comes in small packages. With her large eyes and soft accent, Emilia Clarke, pulls off her part with panache. She’s a survivor, that’s for sure.

I came out of Solo thoroughly entertained. Frankly it was better than I expected. Thumbs up for my five dollar investment on a summer Saturday morning. Soar with the Falcon!