THELIONKING
DIRECTOR JonFavreau
CASTDonaldGlover,Beyoncé,SethRogen,John
Oliver,JamesEarlJones,BillyEichner,Alfre
Woodard,ChiwetelEjiofor,Keegan-MichaelKey,
ShahadiWrightJoseph,JDMcCrary,EricAndré
PLOTYoungSimba(JDMcCrary,laterDonald
Glover)is destinedtobecomekingofPrideRock
likehisfatherMufasa(JamesEarlJones).Buthis
uncleScar(ChiwetelEjiofor)plotsforthethrone,
andSimbaendsupalone in exile. Can he ever
regain his kingdom?
OUTNOW
RATEDPG/118 MINSHHH
[FILM]
VERDICTThegreatcircleoflifehas
thrownupa gorgeous,star-studdedstory,but
tradingfeelingforrealismmeansthatwelose
something of the original film’s excellence.ANOTHERMONTH,ANOTHERDisney
remakeofananimatedclassic.Therearetwo
reasonsthatthisfilmexists,andneitheris
becauseanythingwasmissingfrom1994’sfurry
Hamlet. Thefirstis toshowoffgenuinely
dazzlingvisualeffects,technologicalmarvels
thatgiveusphoto-realanimalsinanabsolutely
convincingsetting.Thesecondis toshowcase
the ability of Disney and director Jon Favreau,
following2016’sreimaginingofTheJungle
Book, toassemblea world-classvoicecast.
Butit’sstillnotenoughtostandshoulder-to-
shoulderwiththegreatkingofthepast.
It doesn’tseemrighttodescribethisas
“liveaction”,whenthevisualswerecreated
intheLondonofficesofvisualeffectswizards
MPC.Whateveritscategory,theimmediate
andoverwhelmingimpressionis solife-like
thatyouexpectDavidAttenboroughto
startnarratingatanymoment.Everyhair
andwhiskeris inplace,everyfootprintraises
a puffofdust.You’llbelievethatPrideRock
is a realplacesomewhereinAfrica,watching
overa landscapekeptincarefulbalanceby
thestewardshipofitsgreatlionking,Mufasa.
Heis voiced,onceagain,byJamesEarlJones,
becausesomethingsaresacrosanctevenin
thismixed-upage.Ourhero,Mufasa’sson
Simba(JDMcCrary;replacedinadulthood
byDonaldGlover),is justascuteandclumsy
aseverashetakeshisfirststepsintothebig,
wideworld.
Thebigproblemwiththisphoto-realism,
however,is thatanimalmouthsarenot
designedforwords,andtheirfacesdonot
expresshumanemotion.Whatwegainin
realismweloseinexpression,evenintheir
limpideyes;it’sdistinctlyjarringwhenthese
catsspeak,andevenmorewhentheybreak
intosong.Youcan’thelpbutmentallyimpose
the performances of their 2D predecessors andseefarmore,well,animationintheolder
characters.
Thisemotionalgapis somewhat
coveredoverbya talentedvoicecast,
withChiwetelEjioformakinga bitteryet
seductiveScarandJohnOliversnarking
upa stormasthefussyZazu.Butit’snot
untilBillyEichnerandSethRogenrockupas
TimonandPumba,respectively,thatthefilm
findsitsgroove.Favreaugivesthemtheirhead,
andtheyinjecta much-neededshotofhumour
andenergyintoalltheShakespeareandrama
ofPrideRock.Fora whiletheysucceedin
liftingthepacefroma statelybig-catstalkto
a fullstampede,atleastuntilSimba’soldpal
Nala(BeyoncéKnowles-Carter)turnsupand
dragshimbacktosavethepridefromevil
uncleScar’spredations.
It’sallbeautifullycraftedandcarefully
conceived,withouteverentirelyjustifyingits
existence.Afewnewsongsincreasetherunning
timeandchancesofanOscar,yetmeanit
sometimesdragsbeforethelostprincereturns
toreclaimhisthrone.So,youmightfeelthelove
tonight,butperhaps not quite as much as before.
HELEN O’HARA“Yes,I’mgonnaeatyou.
It’s the circle of life bro, deal with it.”ON SCREEN