THE LION KING : Tuesday 30th July 2019.

I finally got around to seeing 'THE LION KING' this week some two weeks after its Australian release. Rated PG this photorealistic computer animated remake of Disney's 1994 traditionally animated musical feature film 'The Lion King' was made for US$45M and grossed worldwide US$969M and spawned a whole industry for the next 25 years. This included a whole raft of derived works, such as a hugely successful Broadway adaptation which has toured the world and still is; two direct-to-video follow-ups being the sequel, 'The Lion King II:Simba's Pride' in 1998, and the prequel 'The Lion King 1½' in 2004; two television series, 'Timon and Pumbaa' and 'The Lion Guard'; a 3D re-release in 2011, a video game release and of course the obligatory merchandise. 'The Lion King' garnered two Academy Awards for its achievement in music, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy among its total awards haul of 36 wins and a further 29 nominations. And so here hot on the heels of his success with the live action version of 'The Jungle Book' in 2016, Director and Co-Producer Jon Favreau is back in the chair for this version of the timeless Disney classic. This film cost US$260M to make and has so far grossed US$1.025B worldwide and has received generally mixed Reviews.

The story here will be familiar to adults and kids alike unless you have been living under Pride Rock all your life. The recently born lion cub Simba (voiced by Danny Glover as the grown up Simba and J.D. McCrary as the young Simba) is presented to the animal kingdom from Pride Rock by Rafiki (John Kani) - a wise mandrill monkey who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands, and a close friend of King Mufasa (voiced once more by James Earl Jones) the ruler of the Pride Lands and father of young Simba. The next day Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of being the King and the 'circle of life' which connects all living things.

Mufasa's younger brother, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is jealous of Mufasa and Simba and wants the throne for himself and plots to eliminate his older brother and the young heir to the throne so he can become King. Scar, one day while out roaming with Simba, tricks the lion cub and his best friend Nala (Beyonce) into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard in the out of bounds Shadow Lands, where they are attacked by spotted hyenas led by Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi (Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, and Eric Andre respectively). Mufasa meanwhile had been alerted to the cubs whereabouts by the hornbill concierge Zazu (John Oliver), and arrives just in time before the pack of hyenas were poised to pounce on Simba and Nala. Afterwards, Scar visits the hyenas and manages to persuade them to help him overthrow Mufasa in exchange for hunting rights in the Pride Lands where the prey will be so much easier for them.

Scar sets a trap for Mufasa and his son, coaxing Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas chase a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample and kill him. Feigning ignorance, he advises Mufasa that Simba is in grave danger, knowing that the King will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba but escaping the herd winds up dangling from the edge of the gorge. Scar refuses to help his brother consequently sending him falling to his death. He then convinces Simba that the tragedy was Simba's own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. Scar tells Mufasa's pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede, and assumes the mantle of King.

Simba, now exiled, begins the long journey to find a new place to call home. He collapses under the heat of the blistering desert sun and is happened upon by Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), a meerkat and a warthog, both outcasts too. The pair revive Simba who grows up in an idyllic jungle setting with his two new friends and other animals, living a carefree life, away from any danger and feeding on insects and grubs under the motto 'hakuna matata' (translated to 'no worries' in Swahili).

Grown into a young adult, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba rekindle their friendship and fall in love, and she pleads with him to return home, advising him that the Pride Lands have turned into a drought-stricken barren wasteland under Scar's rule with the ever scavenging hyenas by his side. Still wracked with guilt over his father's death, Simba refuses and storms off. He then encounters Rafiki, who caught wind that Simba was still alive and tells him that Mufasa's spirit lives on in him. After seeing a vision of his father in the night sky, Simba comes to the realisation that he can no longer turn his back on his past and so returns to the Pride Lands with Nala.

With the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa who have followed, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who was about to fight Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) - the Queen of the Pride Lands, Mufasa's wife and Simba's mother. Scar reminds Simba over his role in Mufasa's death much to the surprise of the pride, and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he in fact sent Mufasa crashing to his death. Enraged, Simba reveals the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Rafiki and the lionesses go head to head, toe to toe and tail to tail with the hyenas while Scar, trying to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions. Simba, showing compassion as taught by his father, spares his life, but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever and never return. Scar refuses and jumps to the attack, but Simba is able to toss him from the top of the rock. Scar survives the fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. 

Afterwards, Simba takes over as King and makes Nala his Queen and in due course with Pride Rock restored to its former state after some much needed rains, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life as told by Mufasa some years ago.

I have to say that I was just a tad disappointed by this retelling of the classic Disney animated feature film of 'The Lion King' as seen some 25 years ago first time around. Sure enough the voice cast is terrific, there are some laugh out loud moments, and the CGI really is first rate photo realism at its very best. The film is beautifully rendered in every minute detail and its easy to immerse yourself in the realistic portrayal of African native animals, flora and fauna until those native animals burst into song. The film is almost a frame by frame remake of the original and for this reason I found it a by the numbers predictable offering with little new to offer other than cutting edge CGI, which carries the film only so far. If you are seeing 'The Lion King' for the first time then this is likely to please audiences, but for those of us who remember the first hand drawn animated film from 1994, then this is likely to be seen as a technologically updated money grab by the Mouse House . . . . . that has clearly paid off!

'The Lion King' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-