The Lion King

Watch this Lion King for the technical achievement and musical numbers, and then watch the original to feel satisfied.

Overseeing such a massive technical production as this one requires a filmmaker to be on top of every nuance and detail in play. Actor/director Favreau is the right person for the job.

The Lion King captures just enough of the original's warmhearted excitement -- and introduces enough new delights -- to feel like more than a cynical Disney money grab.

Though by no means a bad movie, The Lion King would've been better off trying to be more of its own movie, do something different in terms of story and character, and aim as high narratively as it achieved with its extraordinary visuals.

Even if you somehow made it into the new Lion King without knowing its origins, you might start to wonder if there was another version of it that made more sense...

The Lion King feels less like watching a cohesive film and more like listening to a separate audio track narrating what is happening onscreen. The two halves don't mesh.

It doesn’t matter if the story is identical if we cry all the same. It doesn’t matter if we know what’s coming if we still feel nervous and worried about the characters. The Lion King is one of Disney’s best remakes so far, on par with The Jungle Book.

The Lion King 2019 is Disney at its worst, a soulless carbon copy of a vastly superior film that exists only to pander to nostalgia and reap financial benefit.

The Lion King is a beautiful film with stunning effects. The cinematography has visuals that make you feel like you are in Mufasa’s kingdom experiencing the adventures of Simba right alongside him.

Unfortunately, John Kani (Rafiki) and Alfre Woodard (Simba’s mother Sarabi) are wasted in their underwritten and one-note roles, as is Beyoncé.