Did any of you 90s kids watch this (or are planning to)? The Lion King was (okay, still is) one of my favourite movies and this is a very faithful adaptation, looks visually impressive, but unfortunately lacks much of the expression/emotion of the original.
I guess I’d sum it up by saying it’s a more realistic take on the original (as far as talking lions can be realistic) so they’ve toned down a lot of the over the top elements and (unfortunately) most of the characteristic expressions of the cartoon lions in the 1994 original. They go into a bit more detail about what being a lion king entails, so there’s more of an environmental theme about balance etc. But it’s not completely serious; they still managed to fit in lots of jokes and all five original songs.
Still, while enjoyable, I think we’re over saturated in remakes and sequels at the moment, especially from giants like Disney. These films lack soul. After The Rise of Skywalker I’ll probably stop going to the movies to see them. This remake was shot in 16:9 as well, oddly enough, as if it were made for Disney Plus rather than to be viewed at the cinema.