In the
slippery slope of the recent trend of rebooting, reimagining, and reawakening
older franchises in updated media, every once in awhile a director gets it just
right. A jewel stands out among the retro rose-colored glasses, the nonsensical
retellings, the too-flashy CGI effects bereft of substance. Such an impressive
feat is accomplished with Disney’s latest offering, a brilliantly animated and photo-realistic
version of its 1994 animated masterpiece, The
Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau.
From the opening “Circle of Life” scene onward, the visuals are stunning and
uncanny, particularly when certain shots are recreated directly from the
original. The animal characters are breathtakingly real, both in their visual
design and in their characterizations as humanlike. It is not a direct remake –
a new script, which borrows heavily from the original, was written by Jeff
Nathanson; the narrative takes on a more serious tone than did its predecessor,
though it is also a musical and carries over some of the subtler comedic
elements from the original movie.
Mufasa (James Earl Jones, reprising his role with a gruff gravity imbued with warmth) rules the leonine kingdom of Pride Rock with a benevolent, responsible paw and tries to teach his only son, Simba (voiced as a cub by JD McCrary and Donald Glover as an adult) about his role in the “delicate balance” that is the circle of life in nature. The king’s jealous brother, Scar (superbly voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor) stages a coup by befriending a pack of hyenas, led by the ruthless Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), and takes the throne of the pride’s lands with dire consequences for his subjects, driving Simba away after the death of his father. Simba’s journey into adulthood is marked by the fear and guilt of his cub-hood trauma, and he must face these with the help of his friends if he is to become the true king they see within him.
The photo-realism
in this film is strikingly arresting, Favreau utilizing similar technologies to
that with which he made The Jungle Book
a few years prior. Motion capture, combined with virtual and augmented reality
technologies, generate a deeply expressive animal dominion populated by
familiar characters, reimagined as they might appear in the real world. These
filming techniques create gorgeously rendered settings, but as with the
aforementioned Jungle Book
adaptation, there is a disconnect between the near-perfect backgrounds and the
almost too-realistic talking animals – although they look like actual animals,
they do not completely move nor act like them, and scenes such as fights
between lions are jarringly disjointed as a result (particularly because, Disney
being Disney, there is very little blood or markings on any of the injured
creatures). Still, there is a great respect for the subject material here, and
it is clear that the intent is to raise the traditionally animated original
film to one even more tightly focused on its characters and their individual
roles in the story. This is undoubtedly a film that celebrates nature, both in
its benevolence and its brutality.
This
adaptation of The Lion King mirrors
its natural visual storytelling with the way it changes some of the characters,
grounding them in a more grave, fixated story than its predecessor. It elevates
its hyena characters, for example, from mildly threatening comic relief to
genuinely menacing, fearsome predators who, rather than being duped by Scar
into overthrowing the standing monarchy, make a bloody pact to work together
with him as long as they get what they want.
Rafiki
(voiced by John Kani) is a more grounded shamanic type, far much less of a
trickster than he was originally, and even Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and
Seth Rogen, respectively) are subtler in their humor. They seem quite media
aware, fully realizing that they’re in a movie (all based on a different
movie), acting more like seasoned improvisational actors who are in on the joke
than like a meerkat and common warthog. Even Zazu is far less a comedic character
here; John Oliver voices him less as a bumbling butt-monkey than as a very stern
but caring minder of the pride’s affairs.
The
strongest differences are in the female characters – particularly Nala (voiced
by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as an adult, Shahadi Wright Joseph as a cub) and
Sarabi (voiced by Alfre Woodard) – who are given much more to do here, echoing
the real-life tendencies of lionesses to be proactive protectors. Nala, whose
role is much smaller in the 1994 version, serves as Simba’s deuteragonist; her
journey is given equal weight, and she is based more heavily on the stage
musical adaptation of the story.
Her song, “Spirit”
– written and performed by BeyoncĂ© – is one of the musical highlights in a film
saturated with a gorgeous score. Hans Zimmer reprises much of the tonal themes
and melodies in the new instrumental soundtrack, while building upon these to
create a lush aural backdrop. Elton John and Tim Rice, who wrote the original songs
for the original Lion King, return to add new life to their songs,
including one they wrote specifically for the closing credits entitled “Never
Too Late”.
The
Lion King is a classic
story, and its newest adaptation is a magnificent affair. From its lovely
visual tableaux to the marvelously updated soundtrack and stellar voice cast,
it still shines regally despite its imperfections. Much like its heroes, it
tries to tiptoe around its destiny, but in the end, it presents us with a fantastic journey.
-Dana Culling