At a time when Disney remakes were mushrooming on the wide screen Jon Favreau's 'The Lion King' live animation production would have been just another drop in the ocean. However the dazzling visual effects and technological marvels of the film dishes out some photo-real animals in an absolutely convincing setting.
Following Disney’s 2014 saga, the film follows the ups and downs of the royal Lion cub Simba from the day he was born to the moment he regained his place in the pack as it’s king. Armed with a world-class voice cast, it is no surprise that sky-high expectations were lying on this production. It did not cease to disappoint it’s fans but the drawback is that it really has nothing new to add to it either except for a few new songs.
The strongest point of the production is probably that the filmmakers have paid attention to perfecting even the minute details. For example when we encounter the pack, not a hair or whisker is out of place. Likewise every footprint is shown to arise a puff of dust. Everything you see on screen is etched out with spellbinding detailing and the visual finesse gives way to near perfection. Some scenes especially ones with the fire flies in the night, open starlit skies and expansive views of the forest look stunning.
Where the visual appeal falls short is in the expressions and emotions on the faces, especially the eyes of the animals which the animated version had got so right.
So while you do feel sad when Mufasa is killed, you are not particularly moved to tears like with the original. And while Scar looks evil, he is not menacing. Also though the film is thirty minutes lengthier it pretty much remains an almost scene by scene copy of the 1994 version, losing its potential to surprise and intrigue further.
Humanification is to imply that what transpires on screen transcends the animal kingdom. It is what one associates with the world of women and men. Hence something we can identify with closely. There is a familiarity to the relationships, the clear divisions between the good and the bad individuals, the situations and emotions, with each character personifying a feeling.
We get love and pride through Mufasa; ambition, jealousy, treachery and violence via Scar; loyalty, care and concern personified in Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu; loss, grief and the denial of it; the overwhelming guilt, its psychological ramifications and the battle in coming to terms with it through Simba.
It’s the angst of the wronged brother Scar — about being a commoner and life having been unfair to him — that has dramatic potential before lapsing into the cliched bad man portrayal. And, towering over everything else in the film is the father-son relationship. Simba’s hero-worship of his dad Mufasa and their mutual love gives the film its emotional tug but the idea of the ruler and his successor also makes it a little antediluvian. The film does try to play down royalty by positing the king as a protector, the one who serves and gives than owns and takes. The country can’t belong to one person.
For those who haven’t seen the original, 'The Lion King' (2019) is certainly worth a watch. However this is their cup of tea for those looking for a twist in the original tale.
