I, like many people around my age, have a soft spot in my heart for The Lion King. It was one of the animated movies that I grew up with, and remember the fuss made about it before it came out, and how excited people were for it. Then, when I finally watched it I, like a lot of people, was so deeply affected by the death of Mufasa that the film stuck with me throughout my childhood.
When news came that the film was to be remade in the slew of live action Disney films I was a little nervous. Of the films that I'd seen I found that they were very hit or miss, and I either really enjoyed them or didn't like them at all. However, seeing that Jon Favreau was involved following the success of The Jungle Book, and that James Earl Jones would be returning to reprise his role I was on board.
Having now seen the film I will say that I found it...okay.
Whilst there is nothing in this new version of the film that I absolutely hated there were several times during the movie that I found myself thinking that the animated feature did it better. For the most part these were the musical numbers. I appreciate that it's hard to make animals look photo realistic and have them singing and dancing around the way they can in an animated movie, but most of the song sequences in this new version felt like they were lacking some of their punch. Though 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' was still a lot of fun.
The main thing that really impressed about this new version was that they had altered the script in a few ways to give more of an explanation or to reveal more about the world. For example, when Zazu talks to Mufasa about how he used to act as a cub. One of these changes that was incredibly welcome was the fact that Shenzi, who was simply part of a comedy trio in the original, was given the spotlight as the leader of the hyena's, and had a much clearer character. She went from comedic relief to something of a lieutenant to Scar, and her showdown with Nala in the finale was very satisfying.
The new cast were also great, and were able to take roles that for a lot of people had become iconic with their original actors and make them their own. The biggest example of this is Scar. Whilst I do appreciate the fact that in the original the scheming villain who wanted to kill the character voiced by a black man and take his land was a white, British man, I don't think that the original filmmakers were trying to make any kind of commentary on how awful white people have been to African nations or citizens across history. Having Chiwetel Ejiofor in the role felt much better. The cast of The Lion King should be black, and the main lion characters especially. He brought a sense of coldness and gravitas to the role that Jeremy Irons just didn't. Irons' Scar was a caricature villain, whereas Ejiofor's felt like a real person.
This is where the new film works well, in these small little changes that elevate certain areas over the original. The increased number of black actors in the cast is an improvement. The additions to the script are an improvement. The action in the finale is an improvement. Yet despite this, there was just something about the film that failed to make it spark for me as amazing. Perhaps it's because I felt myself comparing it to the original a lot of the time that I didn't judge it as it's own separate entity.
I think that this is one of the flaws in the new Disney films. When they're too similar to the original audiences have a tendency to compare the two closely, to sit there thinking that the shots are almost identical, or the songs are the same but one version is sung better than the other. Maybe making the films more obviously different, as the upcoming Mulan appears to be will make the movies stand on their own better.
Despite these small criticisms I really enjoyed The Lion King, and look forward to seeing it again. Though sadly I will not get to experience the best part of the film again, the moment when a woman in the row behind me yelled in fear and disgust during the trailer for Cats.
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