Disney has set a new precedent for soulless, corporate filmmaking. I know “soulless” is an overused term among cinephiles but if any movie could accurately be summed up with that one adjective, it’s this one.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a flick like this. One that takes no creative risks, with no emotional impact, no artistic merits, nothing meaningful to say, that’s just devoid of any qualities that could be described as a "saving grace". Now, I don’t think the original LK is a masterpiece, I think it was a great animated movie for its time but by today’s standards, it’s just decent, with the atmosphere, animation, score, catchy musical numbers, and memorable if two-dimensional characters doing a lot to carry it. But then you have this film, which goes out of its way to sabotage itself and remove all the strengths of the original. Not only is it a shot-by-shot remake, meaning you’re stuck with a very cookie-cutter plot and characters when juxtaposed with modern, more complex Disney animated flicks and you get nothing new or thought-provoking watching this 260 million dollar tech demo with a heavy dose of cynical nostalgia pandering, but who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to remake a fantastical, adventure/musical epic starring talking, anthropomorphized animals with photorealistic animation where the animals can’t express emotion coupled with limited, "realistic" cinematography? That’s the very definition of Insane Troll Logic.
What’s there to enjoy watching these stone-faced CGI puppets stroll around with their mouths opening and closing in semi-synch with the iconic LK songs or just stand still while their celebrity voice actors are doing a table read of the LK script? What’s the point of prolonging things like the shot of the mouse scurrying through Scar's cave or Simba’s hair floating around for 3 minutes before reaching Rafiki? How is it emotionally resonating to have the famous “ghost dad in the sky” scene without actually showing said ghost dad? Like, who the hell was complaining that Nala wasn’t “feminist enough” in the original, and the film felt obliged to put her on a pedestal while stripping her of any charm and likeability? Why are the hyenas and Rafiki little more than footnotes in this? Why is “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” happening during the daytime? Is nighttime unrealistic?!?
And the performances? Good lord. They all sound like they are phoning it in (though to be fair, not like they had anything to work with), Jones sounds like he’s on the verge of death, and Beyonce (big shock) is Megan Fox-ing it throughout the film. Only Rogen and Oliver sound like they have any enthusiasm for their roles, and even that’s not much.
I give it a 1 out 10, and that’s just for the animators’ efforts, for everything else is trite, dreck, excrement, an empty husk of a movie, and a decimation of a classic.
WesternAnimation A manifestation of Disney's boundless greed
Disney has set a new precedent for soulless, corporate filmmaking. I know “soulless” is an overused term among cinephiles but if any movie could accurately be summed up with that one adjective, it’s this one.
I can’t recall the last time I saw a flick like this. One that takes no creative risks, with no emotional impact, no artistic merits, nothing meaningful to say, that’s just devoid of any qualities that could be described as a "saving grace". Now, I don’t think the original LK is a masterpiece, I think it was a great animated movie for its time but by today’s standards, it’s just decent, with the atmosphere, animation, score, catchy musical numbers, and memorable if two-dimensional characters doing a lot to carry it. But then you have this film, which goes out of its way to sabotage itself and remove all the strengths of the original. Not only is it a shot-by-shot remake, meaning you’re stuck with a very cookie-cutter plot and characters when juxtaposed with modern, more complex Disney animated flicks and you get nothing new or thought-provoking watching this 260 million dollar tech demo with a heavy dose of cynical nostalgia pandering, but who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to remake a fantastical, adventure/musical epic starring talking, anthropomorphized animals with photorealistic animation where the animals can’t express emotion coupled with limited, "realistic" cinematography? That’s the very definition of Insane Troll Logic.
What’s there to enjoy watching these stone-faced CGI puppets stroll around with their mouths opening and closing in semi-synch with the iconic LK songs or just stand still while their celebrity voice actors are doing a table read of the LK script? What’s the point of prolonging things like the shot of the mouse scurrying through Scar's cave or Simba’s hair floating around for 3 minutes before reaching Rafiki? How is it emotionally resonating to have the famous “ghost dad in the sky” scene without actually showing said ghost dad? Like, who the hell was complaining that Nala wasn’t “feminist enough” in the original, and the film felt obliged to put her on a pedestal while stripping her of any charm and likeability? Why are the hyenas and Rafiki little more than footnotes in this? Why is “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” happening during the daytime? Is nighttime unrealistic?!?
And the performances? Good lord. They all sound like they are phoning it in (though to be fair, not like they had anything to work with), Jones sounds like he’s on the verge of death, and Beyonce (big shock) is Megan Fox-ing it throughout the film. Only Rogen and Oliver sound like they have any enthusiasm for their roles, and even that’s not much.
I give it a 1 out 10, and that’s just for the animators’ efforts, for everything else is trite, dreck, excrement, an empty husk of a movie, and a decimation of a classic.