The Lion King (2019) is a must-watch movie for the 90’s babies who have grown up watching the Disney’s original animated version released in 1994. The 21st-century film is a true remake of the previous as Jon Favreau, the director, reproduced the scenes and songs to be near-identical to the original’s, taking the audience back to their childhood. However, the slight mismatch of the emotionless faces and the singing of the characters has proved yet again a remake cannot overcome its original. Although I loved both the photorealistic graphics and the voices of the finest artists, the harmony was not quite there.

The Lion King (2019) is about Simba, a lion prince, who takes a long journey to the throne of Pride Rock. Simba’s evil uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba’s father, and manipulates Simba into thinking that he had killed his own father. Terrified, Simba is forced to run away and ends up in the middle of nowhere, left to die under the burning sun. Nevertheless, our protagonist is saved by meerkat Timon and warthog Pumba and adapts to the duo’s care-free lifestyle, leaving his royal life behind in the past. However, realising the leader inside him, the heir eventually returns to Pride Rock and challenges Scar’s throne to take his place as the rightful king.

The photorealistic computer graphic of the live-action film catches the eyes of the audience from the beginning. Depicting every single fur on the animals, every single dust that rises with the lions’ paws, and every single wavering grass across the field, the film reproduces the African Savannah so realistically, that it is nearly indistinguishable from a National Geographic’s. There is so much visual entertainment that one cannot dare take her eyes off the screen.

However, it may have been a bit too realistic. In the animated version, the characters were experts at portraying their emotions with face expressions: Timon’s cheeky grin, Pumba’s bright old smile, and Simba’s mournful grimace at his father’s death was what the audience was expecting. Yet, since the 21st-century film concentrated on being a live-action makeover, the computer graphically recreated animals do not possess adequate faces and mouths for human masks and words. The film failed in fully reproducing the original’s characters, leaving the audience to recognise the characters’ feelings via their voices only. 

Another outstanding feature of The Lion King (2019) is its world-class voice cast. Matured Simba and Nala are voiced by exceptional singers, Donald Glover and Beyoncé, and Timon and Pumba are voiced by witty comedians, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, respectively. The voice cast did an outstanding job that every single character has a perfectly matching voice to its personality and complexion. However, reproducing the legendary songs of The Lion King (1994), the voice actors must have had such a burden as the precedent voice cast excelled in most of the playlist; Be Prepared lacked Scar’s evil, treacherous, sneaky vibes, and Hakuna Matata was not as satisfying as the previous version’s. However, this does not mean that one must keep low expectations for the remade film. The Lion King (2019) precedes in Circle of Life and The Stampede, completely overwhelming the audience and further engaging them into the film. 

The Lion King (2019) is unmissable.  Although it may have failed to overcome the bar of the original, with the face expression-lacking characters and less satisfying musical arrangements, the film’s photorealistic computer graphic and remarkable voice cast should not be missed. Afterall, a remake is usually burdened with higher expectations than the original, and, with all that pressure, The Lion King (2019) has done a great job. Why not jump back into your childhood memories and sing along with the lions?