"a feast for the eyes, even if it is largely a shot for shot remake, with little to no surprises"

The Lion King is the latest Disney Classic to get the remake treatment, now whist I am not going to weigh in on the whole is it live action debate, I will say it is a masterfully made film, showing how far the technology has come.

The great circle of life is thrown up in a gorgeous, star-studded story, that, whilst giving the story a fresh coat of paint, doesn’t really have any surprises, that being said you’ll still be engaged in the story, even if you do know what’s coming.

That being said, they expand the role of Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), the leader of the Hyena’s, she comes across more menacing than her 1994 counterpart voiced by Whoopi Goldberg.

So for those who don’t know, or simply weren’t born in 1994 and haven’t seen The Lion King, it is the story of Simba (JD McCrary), a young lion cub, who has a hard lesson to learn when his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones returning to the iconic role), suddenly dies during a plot by his bitter Uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He is forced into exile where he befriends Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen respectively), as an Adult (now voiced by Donald Glover) he eventually returns to Pride Rock, with the help of Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) to confront Scar and take his place as King.

Jon Favreau and his creative team had the unenviable task of remaking a beloved Disney Classic, that is loved by millions the world over, it presents a certain Catch 22 situation; if they deviate from the source material they’ll get flack, if they do it as a shot for shot remake they’ll get flack, so in my option they did the best they could by changing just enough, whilst giving it a fresh coat of paint, as stated above.

The music from Hans Zimmer is as sweeping and epic as it was when he originally did it for the 1994 film.

All in all, the 2019 version of The Lion King is a feast for the eyes, even if it is largely a shot for shot remake, with little to no surprises, it is a competently made film the goes to show how far the technology has come and Favreau, is the go to guy when wanting to breathe new life into beloved classics, like he did with The Jungle Book.