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The Lion King

2019

Jon Favreau

Animation, Voice: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor ...

6.4

21,561

Animation. Adventure. Drama. Musical After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery. Remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film of the same name. Produced and directed by Jon Favreau.

	Author	Review
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"By focusing his attention on upgrading the look of the earlier film, Favreau reinforces the strength of the 1994 classic (...) [It] honors what came before"	POS
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"It may be the most conservative, least surprising, least risk-taking film of the current century (...) Everything here is so safe and tame and carefully calculated as to seem predigested"	NEG
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"If a movie could be judged solely on technique, 'The Lion King' might qualify as a great one (...) There is a lot of professionalism but not much heart. It may be that the realism of the animals makes it hard to connect with them as characters"	NEU
United States	Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times	"Though the new ground it breaks is visual rather than dramatic or emotional, this is a polished, satisfying entertainment (...) [It] knows how to bring you around."	POS
United States	Scott Mendelson Forbes	"Be prepared for a crushing disappointment (...) The emphasis is on 'realism' at the expense of entertainment value. At almost every turn, this redo undercuts its own melodrama by downplaying its own emotions"	NEG
United States	Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"The story and the songs, with a few notable if hardly unexpected updates, are fondly faithful to the original; the magic mostly intact."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"'Lion King' fatally misunderstands what once made Disney special (...) A well-rendered but creatively bankrupt self-portrait of a movie studio eating its own tail."	NEG
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"A business proposition that uses familiarity as its life raft. Is it technically impressive? You bet. But without the animating spark of life, the story falls flat. There’s no magic in it.(...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Rosie Knight IGN	"A strong cast, outstanding visuals, and the classic animal-centric take on Hamlet make this infinitely more watchable than some of the studio's previous retellings"	POS
United States	Kendra James The Verge	"[It] is pretty, but so unnecessary (...) It’s hard to imagine millennials, or even Gen-Xers, choosing to show their kids this version of the film in lieu of the animated original"	NEU
United States	Brian Lowry CNN	"The result is a polished and satisfying film, yet one that conspicuously feels even more like a consumer product than most Disney revivals of its animated classics."	POS
United States	Bilge Ebiri Vulture	"Technically speaking, it’s a marvel (...) The not-so-good news is that, having entered the photorealistic realm, 'The Lion King's mood too has changed"	NEU
United States	Matt Goldberg Collider	"Unfortunately, the photoreal approach makes it feel like a Disneynature movie that happens to have celebrity voices (...) It never finds its own purpose to exist outside the photorealism"	NEG
United States	William Bibbiani The Wrap	"The contrast between the impossible events happening on-screen and the hyper-realism of the imagery doesn’t always work in the movie’s favor (...) Sometimes it’s fascinating, frequently it’s ludicrous"	NEU
Australia	Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald	"It’s extraordinarily clever. There’s no doubt about that (...) But all that’s really new is the technology. And impressive as it is, it fails to set the spirits soaring (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"The new 'Lion King' gains in shock and awe while losing in character and wit (...) [It is] watchable and enjoyable. But I missed the simplicity and vividness of the original hand-drawn images (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Chris Hunneysett Mirror	"Donald Glover and Beyonce are fierce - and the photorealistic CGI in The Lion King 2019 movie is so very incredible (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Helen O'Hara Empire	"Beautifully crafted and carefully conceived, without ever entirely justifying its existence (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Caryn James BBC	"You can go back to the original film for its sweep and beauty and for Jeremy Irons. See the new version for its fun and immersion into a fantastical world that feels real (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Clarisse Loughrey The Independent	"A technological marvel of unprecedented hyperrealism (...) [It] benefits massively from the fact its music is as good as ever (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Trevor Johnston Radio Times	"Marvel at the computer-generated craftsmanship but this 'live-action' refit cannot quite match the emotional heights of the Disney animated classic (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Canada	Molly Freeman Screen Rant	"[It] is good because the original animated movie was great (...) It's worth marveling at just what Disney has accomplished with the film (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Canada	Norman Wilner Now Toronto	"It is an abomination (...) [It] looks like nature documentary footage that’s been repurposed into a new 'Lion King'"	NEG
Canada	Barry Hertz The Globe and Mail	"Beautiful but soulless (...) It’s an entertaining and thrilling tale, if you’ve never seen it before. But you have (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
Canada	Andrew Parker The Gate	"I’m just as captivated by these images in their photorealistic forms as I was when they were lovingly sketched out by hand. I’m sure younger viewers will be just as impressed (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Canada	Alex Hudson Exclaim!	"Throw in some quirky, memorable voice performances and truly beautiful visuals (...) and it's enough to make this a worthy celebration of a childhood classic."	POS
Australia	Liam Maguren Flicks	"The visual details are incredible and the animation's pretty much flawless on an anatomical level (...) [It] constantly imitates the original—and that's a big problem (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Australia	Anthony O'Connor FilmInk	"It just doesn’t take off and consequently feels like an overlong slog through the savanna."	NEG
Australia	Wenlei Ma News	"Visually astonishing but narratively flat (...) It’s harder to connect with grounded, realistic animals, even when they’re talking and singing (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Australia	DM Bradley The Adelaide Review	"A wholly unnecessary and ho-hum affair that leaves you wondering why they – or you – bothered."	NEG
Ireland	Donald Clarke Irish Times	"It’s technically remarkable but the characters are weak and the story a carbon copy (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Ireland	Tanya Sweeney Irish Independent	"There’s no doubting that 'The Lion King' is a visual delight (...) But the playfulness and charm that made the original such a childhood staple has somehow been lost in translation.(…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
Ireland	Harry Guerin RTÉ	"This 'Lion King's crowning glory is (...) how Favreau has ensured that an urgent ecological message jumps off the screen with more power than even the Shakespearean elements of the story (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Brian Lloyd entertainment.ie	"[It] has its moments and if you never saw the original, this would definitely mean a lot to you. However, the fact remains that it's not an original effort (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
Ireland	Graham Scannain	"Everything seems to just be operating on autopilot. The acting, the songs, and the narrative. Nothing works (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"	NEG

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