The Lion King 2019 version has been out for a couple of weeks and I was finally able to take my daughters to go see it. Now, keep in mind that The Lion King is one of my all time favorite animated films, so I was cautiously optimistic about this version. Did I love it? No. But did I hate it? No. It is very much a MEH, right in the middle movie for me.
The CGI is a Little Off
The CGI overall was not bad. Honestly, it was better than some DC movies I have seen recently…. but my major issue with it was the legs. Sure, sometimes their mouths seemed off and the animals didn’t always look like they were talking. But every lions’ front legs — right where they connected to the body — were just.. OFF. There is no other word for it. They almost reminded me of tree trunks. It distracted me throughout most of the movie.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
I really, really, REALLY wanted to love this version of Can You Feel The Love Tonight. It is my favorite song from the original The Lion King but something about this version just seemed too different. If I had to narrow it down, I would say it was Beyonce (I know, I know!). Donald Glover did a great job with it, but she just sang it different than the original. Which might have been OK if it was a little here and there, but it seemed like she took liberties with the entire song. This is easily my biggest complaint of the entire film.
Be Prepared!
Scar is one of my favorite Disney villains and so when I heard that Be Prepared was not going to be in this version of the movie, I was really bummed. However, it WAS in this movie. Sort of. Not in the same way, it was more a speech than a song, but I was THRILLED when that part came on.
I would have loved for Scar to be scarier, however. Even my youngest daughter, who gets scared easily, said he didn’t really bother her at all. He just didn’t seem scary to me. Which didn’t help me think he was a real threat to Simba, if you know what I mean. The hyenas were fantastic though, and provided some great comic relief.
Timon and Pumbaa Make the Movie
Without Timon and Pumbaa, I would rate this movie a lot lower. In fact, if it wasn’t for them, I probably would have fallen asleep in the theater. They brought something fresh to the film and had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. They made fun of their characters in the animated film, which I really liked. Timon and Pumbaa totally saved this movie for me.
Did you see my reaction to the first The Lion King trailer? I was so excited when these two showed up!
Overall Thoughts
My 8 year old really loved The Lion King 2019. But my 6 year old was antsy about halfway through. And I don’t blame her. The fact that we knew exactly what was going to happen didn’t help. Yes, I shed a tear when Mufasa died. And yes, that battle at the end was AMAZING. But if I was rating the movie as a whole, it just fell flat for me.
Is The Lion King worth a watch? Absolutely. It is breathtakingly gorgeous and visually stunning (except for those lion legs…). Is it worth multiple watches? Well, that is up to you. For me? No. I might watch it one more time, with my whole family when it comes on home release. Since my husband missed out on going to the theaters with us. But after that, nah. I probably won’t see it again. I am sure there are people out there that love this movie. But I didn’t.
The Lion King 2019 is in theaters now!
