The King Is Dead - The Lion King
In 1960, a director by the name of Alfred Hitchcock made a masterpiece called Psycho. For some reason, 38 years later, Gus Van Sant decided the world needed a shot-for shot remake. That decision, generally thought of as one of the worst in movie history, should have been a cautionary tale for the creative minds at Disney. If you are going to remake a nearly perfect film, make sure it is not a craven carbon copy. Infuse it with new ideas or daring angles. At least then, even if your movie is not revolutionary, no one can say it is what 2019’s The Lion King winds up being—boring.
As far as media properties, The Lion King is one of the most familiar stories of all time. Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones) is King and he bears a son named Simba (voiced by JD McCrary and Donald Glover). In Simba’s youth, Mufasa seeks to impart earned wisdom to his son to prepare him to one day take over as King.
When Mufasa is killed, Simba flees his kingdom in search of refuge. He winds up making new friends on a journey of self-discovery that eventually leads him to return to face down his murderous uncle, Scar (voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor). This is a story love, self-doubt, self-discovery and the power of legacy.
There was so much opportunity to do something interesting with this beautiful pallet. The story could have featured greater emphasis on the female lions, it could have revealed more of what happens in the several year period where we don’t see Simba. Instead, it wantonly tells the same story we already knew. It comes across as an effort everyone involved with was bored by before they even started making it. A forgettable march toward $1B for Disney.
It was possible for the vocal performances to save this pedestrian effort, but alas, they did not. Some of them (*please don’t shoot me Beyhive*) are so uninspired that they seem like they are in a different movie. It would seem the focus was on stunt casting rather than crafting a well-rounded ensemble. The only people worth singling out for commendations are John Oliver and Billy Eichner, but their roles were so limited that they do nothing to soften this thud.
Disney is intent on continuing to mine existing IP for content. To the extent this trend will continue, hopefully they can make more compelling choices. When they originally announced Donald Glover, Beyonce and several other insanely talented people were involved, everyone was rightly excited. But that excitement assumed a vision worth their efforts—not reheated leftovers Disney knew we would swallow anyway.
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