David Pierdomenico
How does one even begin to discuss this film? We could start with inane ramblings of how Disney has sold its soul for money. But that would be nothing new, they’ve been doing cheesy remakes and direct-to-video sequels for years. We could even start with how this “live action” remake ruins our collective childhoods by trampling all over our beloved classic. Yet, the same could be said about The Ling King 2: Simba’s Pride, or The Lion King 1 ½.
When it comes to remakes, it’s often argued that a film deserves to be judged by its own merits. That comparing it to the original is nothing more than elitist criticism by those who are unable to embrace new ideas. However, when the remake decides that it will hit all the same beats, even including much of the same dialogue and camera angles, it doesn’t get the luxury of being separated from the original. So with that in mind, let’s take a deeper look into the “live action” remake of The Lion King.
Photo-Realism vs. “Live Action”
There are many things to fairly criticize this film about, but we have to give credit where credit’s due. The CGI animation looks nothing short of amazing! At no point does it actually fool anyone into thinking these are real animals, but it does an excellent job of making them look almost real.
It’s also really cool to see them try to mimic the same shots and angles as the original, which they do with relative accuracy. It doesn’t try anything new or unique, but it serves as more of a translation into CGI animation rather than a new adaptation.
Unfortunately however, there comes a point where this type of photo-realistic animation becomes detrimental. And that comes into play once we hear the animals talking. In the original, the animators were able make the characters’ faces look a bit more human than usual, in order to give the more personality and to help match the voice actors’ performances. But here, with the hyper-realistic animal faces, it just seems strange to have theatrical voice acting coming out of them. It delves deep into what animators call “the uncanny valley”. Something just seems off about it.
Questionable Voice Acting
Just to be clear, the voice acting here isn’t downright terrible. But it’s nowhere near great either. We hear the iconic voice of James Earl Jones as Mufasa once again, but something doesn’t sound quite right. Jones is pushing 90, and his voice isn’t quite what it used to be. So it’s rather sad to hear him re-record these legendary lines of dialogue, but his voice sounds very old, tired, and weary. Perhaps it would have been sacrilege to recast Jones, but perhaps it’s also sacrilege to remake this film at all!
Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen do a pretty decent job as Timon and Pumba. They have good comedic timing, as well as a strong chemistry. The strongest voice actors of the film are probably Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce Knowles-Carter as Nala. Their rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is arguably the best song of the film, because both actors have strong singing voices. But more importantly, they’re both skilled at acting via song, meaning they can use their singing voices to convey emotion and feeling, rather than just singing well.
Now we need to talk about Scar. Chiwitel Ejiofor is a great actor, and we’ve seen him play convincing villains in Doctor Strange (spoilers), as well as get nominated for Best Actor in 12 Years a Slave. So it’s hard to tell what exactly happened here. In a recent intereview, Ejiofor stated that his version of scar would be more like a “powder keg ready to explode”. So the performance we get is an unhinged, almost psychotic one, but his line delivery is just flat! He’s trying to sound weird and creepy, but he’s not giving any real meaning to the words he’s saying.
Part of what made Jeremy Irons’ performance brilliant in the original was his ability to turn at the drop of a hat. He could go from sounding genuinely concerned about Simba to looking his brother in the eyes and saying, “Long live the king”, with an almost gleeful sense of menace. As if this was the culmination of years of planning. Ejiofor on the other hand, delivers the line like he’s just reading it from a script. It’s also why “Be Prepared” is horribly butchered, and sounds like a performance from a 5th Grade Talent Show!
Ultimately, this is the primary issue with this new Lion King. It’s not even bothering trying anything new because Disney wanted to be respectful to the original. But if that was the case, then why remake it at all?! So we’re left with beautiful animation, combined with voice acting that just sounds like actors reading lines, rather than characters saying what’s on their mind.
Ever since Disney started these “live-action” remakes, there was a fear that the films would turn mediocre and nothing more than a shameless cash grab. It’s debatable whether that point was reached before. But there’s no doubt at all, that we’re at that point now!
