Thanks: 
I watched the movie last Wednesday. I went to watch it with little expectation, on the insistance of my bf, who is also a TLK fan. However, I was a bit curious to see if there were any major alterations or additions to the main plotline and in general...I was going to watch it at some point. Overall, I think the movie met my initial expectations.
I enjoyed the voice acting, I thought that for the most part it was really good. I didn't like Scar very much, though of course his voice actor had a huge legacy to live up to. The visual rendering of the lions as real, breathing lions was impressive. The sceneries looked beautiful, I especially liked the jungle scenes. Some of the cub scenes looked very cute and the same goes for adorable baby Pumbaa. I liked the hyenas a lot and I felt that they could have a little more depth. They seemed so promising in the Elephant graveyard scene. And indeed, a lot more threatening.
I also enjoyed the additions of the jungle animals, especially the bat eared fox. It made the whole jungle environment a little more lively. Also, it made me wonder if they used any of the discarted concept material from the 1994 film, because there was a bat eared fox character (and more characters) that had never made it into the movie then:https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Bhati
The interaction between Scar and Sarabi surprised me. I got such fanfiction vibes from it. Does anyone remember an old popular fanfic called "Chronicles of the Pridelands" by John Burkitt and David Morris? If I remember correctly, Scar was very much in love with Sarabi in that story. For those that might be familiar with TLKFAA, I remember seeing plenty of fanart from that story back around 2005.
The scene with Nala escaping Pridelands was the one thing that I was hoping to see in this movie and I was glad they included it.
Now, on the things I didn't like.
Surprise...The lack of emotion. I expected this from all I'd seen of the trailers, but I didn't think it'd be so serious. A part of me was still hoping we were just not getting a good glimpse of what we'd see. But there it was. You have all the crucial emotional moments, that will add to the characters development and will make you feel things for the character... and the voice actors have done a fair job...and yet you just don't see it. The reaction you expect never comes.
Like this:
Or Simba's reaction when Mufasa dies. Scar seemed more expressive than the rest, but even in his case there isn't much variation. Also, it seemed to me that unlike the lions until then, from the moment Timon and Pumbaa come to the scene, there's a lot more life and expression to them. And it seemed to me that it stayed that way to the end. Maybe it was just my idea though.Originally Posted by Leorgathar
"Be prepared" felt boring. That adds to the lack of charm of Scar as a villain. He's just a sick-looking lion with a bad RBF case.
The first part of the movie seems well balanced. The second part though, felt very rushed. Simba and Nala getting together and parting again, it happened so very fast. Nala saying goodbye and running away like it was nothing was very odd for me too. It made Simba and Nala's relationship seem a lot more flat. And the scene with Mufasa's ghost. It felt empty. It didn't have the weight and impact that it meant to have. That the original had. The message about learning from the past and finding who you are. It was just, oh right, I'm Simba son of Mufasa, going back, bye. I liked seeing Simba and Nala return together. But, the new song "Spirit", it didn't feel like it fit in that scene at all. It felt generic and forgetable. I really missed Busa. It would have made the scene so much more powerful.
Finally, another thing that still baffles me to no end...and it seemed to be coming from the trailers was...the lack of colour and contrast. Colour is so very important in the visual arts to establishing mood. To evoke feelings like happiness, fear, hope etc. Just like music. And yet. The film seems for the most part washed out. Flat. Like a documentary from the 90s. It seemed to me like the most succesful mood-setting scene was battle for Pride rock, where the colours were inevitably darker. But for the most part, the rest of the movie, doesn't deliver on that point. The most colourful scene of the 1994 film, "I just can't wait to be king" seems so boring and has lost its energy and life. I don't understand how a professional studio like Disney is okay with this washed out, amateuristic photographic style. It's like they aim for a 90s documentary style. I just don't get it. And it makes me sad, because I think that to an extent, better colour mood-setting would have helped made up for the lack of the characters expressions and help illustrate better the emotions they were experiencing.
In the end, to connect with the characters and the plot I feel like I was clinging on to the 1994 movie too much to make watching this bearable. If I didn't know what would happen in the 1994 movie, if I wasn't familiar with the music, I think I'd be confused as for what the characters were feeling and thinking. Or how it all connected. I teared up when Mufasa died and it resonated to me right then, that if it wasn't for this music that I was already familiar with and overall with the connection with the original, I'd be hardly moved. From that moment onwards I felt like I was watching some sort of very well made parody.
It was interesting to see some things from another perspective and I certainly didn't hate this film, but I didn't like it enough either. It left me feeling meh too. It doesn't feel like it has much heart to stand out on its own. It seems to me that it just relies too much on people's memories and love for the original.
I truly feel I would have enjoyed it a lot more, if there was more colour/contrast and not such a lack of expressions. But in the end, that's what they were aiming for...
