About the film (courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures):
Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. Not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy, and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.

Jumping right into things, let me just say that I don’t get some of the critical bashing of Jon Favreau’s The Lion King. Yes, original ideas are far and few between for the most part these days. That said, there’s only so many ways to prepare a sub before you start repeating the combination. What do you do then? You make a better quality version and you market the heck out of it. In a sense, that’s exactly what Disney has done with this updated refresh of the 1994 classic animated feature and quite predictably, there’s few haters out there.

Starting with the indisputable crystal clear truth, The Lion King is simply beautiful to watch. This was money well spent. In 95 percent of the scenes, the visuals look completely realistic. Upon watching the first trailer, I thought this was going to be some kind of National Geographic movie with voice-overs. Prepare to be transported to a world where animals sing and talk.

The voice acting is also pretty solid, although Chiwetel Ejiofor (voices Scar) and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (voices the older Nala) do leave a little to be desired. They both lack the iconic fierceness that’s needed to pull their roles off effectively. Of course Donald Glover is pretty on point as the older Simba while also maintaining that vulnerability that makes you pull for the character even that much more. Other stars include John Oliver, Keegan-Michael Key, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner and the timeless legend James Earl Jones who reprises his role as Mufasa. The one name that I saved for last is the actor that steals almost every scene he speaks in. That would be Seth Rogen, who totally embodies the personality of everyone’s favorite warthog, Pumbaa. The laughs just keep on coming with this guy.

There are no real twists or surprises if you recall the evens fro the 1994 version. Jon Favreau preserves the spirit of The Lion King by not going too crazy with his own version. The story does go into a little further detail which adds a half hour to the runtime. That might be a little challenging on the little ones trying to keep them still for two full hours. Another word of caution concerning younger audiences is the intensity of what’s presented. It’s not that it’s overstepping boundaries in any way, but the realism of the animals makes certain scenes a tad bit scary.

Whether you are showing this to kids that are five or adults that are fifty-five, The Lion King has something for everyone to keep them entertained. This version will probably be more appealing to those that recall enjoying the original. This is simply an enhancement and technological update to its predecessor. It’s pretty evident that its director, Jon Favreau, must’ve been a fan for quite a few years because this has all of the same little nuances that makes this another hit for Disney. Naysayers be damned, this version is one you can take pride in. See it in theaters now.