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-

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN : Tuesday 20th November 2018.

'THE OLD MAN & THE GUN' which I saw at my local independent picture house earlier this week is an American crime comedy film which is reported to be Robert Redford's final film as an Actor before he hangs up his hat for good and retires on a career that has spanned six decades both in front and behind the camera. Written for the screen and Directed by David Lowery, this film is based on the life of Forrest Tucker who died in 2004 at the age of 83 and spent his entire life from the age of fifteen in and out of prison as a career criminal. The script is based on David Grann's 2003 article in The New Yorker titled 'The Old Man and the Gun', which was later collected in Grann's 2010 book 'The Devil and Sherlock Holmes'. Having had its World Premier screening at the Telluride Film Festival in late August this year, the film went on general release in the US in late September and has so far grossed US$11M and has received generally positive Press.

We are first introduced to Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) who is fleeing the scene of a crime in broad daylight in his big American sedan car of the early '70's, pursued by Police cars giving chase with lights flashing and sirens blaring. It is late 1981, and as Tucker successfully evades the Police he enters the freeway, and before long pulls his car to a halt on the side of the road to assist a woman stranded with the bonnet up. Just as he has his head under the bonnet rendering really no assistance at all, the Police cars stream by, and keep on going. Before you know it, that woman is sat beside Tucker in his car as he has offered her a ride to get to where she needs to go, while her pick-up truck gets towed for repairs. That woman is Jewel (Sissy Spacek), and straight away you can see the chemistry working between the pair.

At first Jewel is just a little wary of Tucker, but she soon swarms to his charms as they sit and chat over coffee and pie in a diner, for which she picks up the tab as a thank-you for him coming to her rescue. She goes on to tell him that her husband died a few years back, and now she lives alone on a ranch and maintains three horses. In return he tells her what he does for a living, originally stating that he was in sales, but then in a round about way and tongue in cheek tells her that he robs banks and is actually pretty good at it. Needless to say she doesn't believe him, and he also doesn't reveal his real name.

We then move to a string of bank robberies that takes us from Texas, to Oklahoma and Missouri. Tucker is the prefect gentleman thief always walking into his target bank impeccably dressed in suit and tie, in broad daylight, usually when it is busy, usually wearing a fake moustache and a hat, and asks for the manager on the pretext of wanting to take out a business loan. It is at this point that Tucker reveals from under his overcoat that he is carrying a gun, although we never see him pull it, use it in anger, or even if it is loaded. But, all of his gentlemanly charm, thoughtfully chosen words and empathy wins over the manager or the teller who time after time are obliging with filling up Tuckers brief case with cash. His victims when being subsequently questioned by the Police all say that he was so charming, so friendly, so courteous, polite and kind.

After a while, this string of gentleman robberies comes to the attention of Police Officer John Hunt (Casey Affleck), a loving family man and husband to Maureen (Tika Sumpter), who is standing in the very bank waiting to be served while Tucker is robbing it, and didn't notice a thing until the alarm was raised after Tucker had fled the scene of the crime. Hunt becomes obsessed with Tuckers crime spree and is determined to bring his newly dubbed 'Over the Hill Gang' to justice, but has very little to go on except for some grainy CCTV footage (remembering that this is 1981 tech. being relied upon), and some artist impressions pulled from newspaper articles. Hunt goes on the TV news after one such robbery stating that he is on the case and is determined to bring the Gang to justice. Tucker sees the news feed as it is broadcast, and at the scene of his next robbery involving a more daring heist on a larger bank in St. Louis leaves a message for Hunt hand written on a dollar bill.

Aiding and abetting Tucker are too long term and ageing collaborators Teddy (Danny Glover) and Waller (Tom Waits). Teddy is the getaway car driver and Waller keeps look out, and they share their spoils equally between them. In between the audacious albeit very politely and efficiently conducted heists, the story continues to develop with the emotional unfolding of Tucker and Jewel's relationship, and Hunt's pursuit of the criminals.

One early evening while Tucker and Jewel are back at the diner finishing up with an order of pie, in walks Hunt and his wife Maureen for a bite to eat. Tucker instantly recognises Hunt from his television broadcast, and instead of getting outta there, sidles up to the off-duty Police Officer in the washroom and strikes up a conversation about being correctly attired while straightening Hunt's tie. Recognising Tucker from the artist impressions, upon leaving Hunt calls out 'Forrest', to which the old man turns and smiles before exiting.

Needless to say its not long before the long arm of the law catches up with Tucker, but not before the ageing gentleman thief has given the Police a run for their money. Culminating with Tucker completing one of his Bucket List wishes - to ride a horse, he ends up at Jewels ranch early one morning, and sat astride his trusted steed sees a Police convoy descend upon her property. He is promptly arrested for his spate of robberies, as is Teddy, but Waller is still at large.

We fast forward a few months and Jewel visits Tucker in prison. It is here that Tucker reveals his true life history and his previous sixteen successful attempts at breaking out of the institutions in which he has been incarcerated over his life so far from a young teenager up to his most recent breakout from St. Quentin. He has dutifully written them all down in terms of date approximations and the institutions, which are all recreated in a short clips montage, up until escape #17 which remains blank. Jewel says that he is not going to break out of the prison in which he now sits, but will serve his time. And that he does, and upon his release a few years later she is waiting for him.

Tucker moves into the ranch with Jewel. We see them going about their business, relaxing together and enjoying each others company. But we know that Forrest has an itch that he's dying to scratch, and one day while Jewel is dozing on the couch, Forrest takes his leave to run into town on an errand. But really, he walks into a bank and holds it up, with another four conducted that very same day. After all, robbing banks is in his blood, its what he loves and he's pretty damn good at it too.

'The Old Man & The Gun' is a slow meandering leisurely paced entertaining film that feels as though it was shot in the era in which it is set, in the early '80's. It is a fitting end to a long and illustrious career of the 82 year old Robert Redford whose career began in television in 1960, and who has had a distinguished career both in front of, and behind, the camera ever since. His career really took off with his portrayal of the thief and outlaw 'The Sundance Kid' in 1969's 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' opposite Paul Newman, and how appropriate that is should close with his portrayal of thief and outlaw Forrest Tucker almost fifty years later. There is a lot to like about this warm hearted tale of obsession for ones chosen career path (even if it does involve robbing banks) and breaking out of prison on multiple occasions, finding love in the twilight of your years, and even in the way that the Detective on the case grows to find an admiration and an appreciation for his quarry. With a strong supporting casts that also takes in Elisabeth Moss, John David Washington and Keith Carradine, this is an engaging easy watch film that shows us that Redford still has that winning smile and a twinkle in his eye that has made him an icon of the industry, and in which his star still shines brightly.

'The Old Man & The Gun' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-