The Lion King Movie Review

A Visual Feast 

The Lion King, the newest classic remake of a Walt Disney Studios production is set to roar across theaters nationwide today, July 19th, 2019. Widely considered an animated masterpiece, beloved by fans worldwide, Disney’s 1994 classic “The Lion King” won Academy Awards for the original song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (Elton John, Tim Rice) and original score (Hans Zimmer). Now, the newest The Lion King will WOW audiences everywhere with it’s photo-realism in a visual feast. 

Photo-Realism…what?

The newest Lion King will roar across the big screen in a whole new way that will leave classic film lovers mouths agape and will have newer fans fall head over heels. The newest Lion King achieves greatness by employing an evolution of storytelling technology that blends live-action film making techniques with photoreal computer-generated imagery. Environments were designed within a game engine a state-of-the-art virtual-reality tools allowed the director to walk around in the virtual set, scouting and setting up shots as if he were standing in Africa alongside Simba. When you see The Lion King for yourself, you will feel as though you are in Africa!

Directed by Jon Favreau, The Lion King will take audiences on a trip through their 1994 memories. The Lion King follows the story line beat by beat of the 1994 classic, however it is such a visually stunning film. When asked about how he felt about remaking The Lion King: “It’s such a beloved property,” says Favreau. “Disney has had tremendous success with the original animated version and then the Broadway musical. I knew that I had to be very careful with it. I felt a tremendous responsibility not to screw it up. I wanted to demonstrate that we could be respectful of the source material while bringing it to life using mind-blowing techniques and technologies.” And I can assure you, he did just that.

A Wild Cast

According to Jon Favreau, the performances breathe life and humanity into the story. “The casting allows for interpretation while maintaining the spirit and personality of the classic characters,” he says. The all-star lineup includes stars from film, TV, theater and music, bringing back to the big screen iconic characters that audiences have long treasured—but in a whole new way. “The Lion King” stars Donald Glover (“Atlanta,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”) as future king Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (“Dreamgirls,” “Lemonade” visual album) as Simba’s friend-turned-love interest Nala, and James Earl Jones (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Field of Dreams”) as Simba’s wise and loving father, Mufasa, reprising his iconic performance from Disney’s 1994 animated classic. Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave,” Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange”) portrays Simba’s villainous uncle Scar, and Alfre Woodard (“Juanita,” Marvel’s “Luke Cage”) plays Simba’s no-nonsense mother, Sarabi. JD McCrary (OWN’s “Tyler Perry’s The Paynes,” Apple’s “Vital Signs”) voices Young Simba, a confident cub who can’t wait to be king, and Shahadi Wright Joseph.

I took my 3  youngest children to see The Lion King, and they all loved it. I have to be completely honest an tell you that I did prepare them for Mufasa’s death. Since they knew that was coming, they were able to emotionally prepare for a wild story. I encourage everyone with children ages 7+ to see the film today!

The Lion King is in theaters now!