As first I want to say, the movie is definitely visually impressive, at the times it's even too impressive making it feel like a nature documentary more than a movie. Though I must say as they were going for realism it's actually good they didn't have expressions as that would have probably looked very weird, though of course this did have second problem often complained about which is how poorly they conveyed emotions compared to the original. The statement that they wanted to use more body language to express emotions seems like an excuse too as I didn't really see any of that. My biggest concern going in to this movie was how are they going to be able to replicate the physics of the animals into the scenes, after all, these are 350 to 500lb lions walking around in a Savannah, not to speak of the elephants and such. On that for most parts they failed big time, I could see there was grass which wasn't moving when it should have, dirt wasn't being compressed at all and it just felt like sometimes the animals were not even interacting with the environment at all. Though I had a feeling that is what was going to happen so it didn't take that much away from the movie for me.
The powerful scenes in the movie made me feel conflicted. Firstly I love the fact that they made the relationship with hyenas and Scar more of equal partnership than Scar as a leader, the hyenas definitely were not threatened by Scar in any way. Scar knew if he wanted to ally with hyenas he would have to allow them to roam freely on Pridelands. As for Mufasa's death, yep they pretty much brushed that under the carpet. Mufasa's body falling was not convincing at all, I think they were going for the typical twist that cats have when so they fall on their feet but it just looked weird, don't get me wrong though, shot like that is hard, but if you can't make it look right, they could have shown the fall from the perspective of Mufasa when he realizes what is happening and as he falls or anything else... but not what we got. Also I feel like when Simba found his father lifeless body, they could have stretched the scene a bit more of course while going for realism, getting that powerful effect of Simba's tears is impossible to replicate, but they really should have tried harder after all this is the scene that everyone still remembers today even if they are not fans of the movie or only seen it a few times. It's almost as if they knew they were not going to be able to make it as great and just brushed it off real quick. I did enjoy the way they kind of gave an idea after Simba ran away, how far he actually traveled and also the way Timon and Pumbaa interacted, not sure what to think of the whole cult leader feel they gave, but I guess it was an ok adaptation. Simba and Nala meeting also was fine in my opinion, yeah I guess they should of taken a bit longer to recognize each other, but at the same time, they would probably recognize each other by the scent and Timon and Pumbaa being so cynical and with so little regards for circle of life and all, it didn't seem so unbelievable they just shrugged it off. Next I do say I did enjoy the scene where Rafiki leads Simba to Mufasa's ghost in the clouds, not so much of the cloud scene itself. But to be fair, what they did was the only acceptable way in my opinion, after all as I said many times, they're going for realism, getting a lion head shaped cloud that has lip movement... yeah that doesn't look weird at all. So I feel like with frame work they had, it worked, just wasn't powerful like the original. I also really enjoyed the ending, I felt like the scene where Simba was confronting Scar worked very well though I would probably have to see it again in order to go more in detail.
What I probably enjoyed most about the whole movie was the added details. So often in these remakes they go... well just that a remake. I know there is people who disagree with me about Dumbo, but in comparison I feel like that was the best out of all as it's so much more original. Am I saying they should have gone original with Lion king... heck no, I don't think that would of worked at all, but it's those little subtle things which got me feeling all fuzzy inside. I loved the first scene after the intro where the little mouse makes it's way to Scar's den, it was in my opinion way better than just running out of a hole and slamming a paw on it. Other such detail was what I already mentioned when Simba made his way to the jungle as it just gave better view on how far he traveled. Also, the path of Simba's mane tuft traveling to Rafiki was very clever way to get the message to Rafiki, though when he received the tuft I wanted to jump out of my seat and yell "DON'T SNIFF IT, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT HAS BEEN! :gasp: "
What comes to the score, as I don't really understand music too well I don't feel like I can compare it after just one viewing. I felt like it was good, Shairfu kept telling me how she wishes I Just Can't Wait To Be King should have been in vibrant and strange colors, but I liked it that they stayed true to the format. I was a bit disappointed as they didn't include version of Shadowland in the movie, which I felt like would of worked great in the movie, but I guess they didn't want to take it that route. Overall I do feel like the score worked pretty well though CYFTLT was just... NO.
So what do I actually think of the movie then. I enjoyed it. Was it everything I could of hopped for? well to be honest it was more than I hoped as I went in with no expectations. I feel like it did well with the limitations it had, it didn't come anywhere near the original, but I don't think it even should have. It is a good real life adaptation of the story of the lion king and I'm definitely able to forgive and over look the flaws it has... ( Except Mufasa's death... NEVER FORGET! NEVER FORGIVE! ) ... and I will certainly want to watch it a few more times before making my final judgement on it. Also it is not the worst addition to what we been given... YES I'M LOOKING AT YOU TLK PRE-SEQUAL! ( TLK 1 1/2 / 3)
