The Lion King (2019) - Movie Review

We all know the story of The Lion King. But I'll summarize it for you anyway. When Simba is born Scar is bumped down to the third in line for the throne which makes him even angrier than before. He unites forces with the hyenas and successfully assassinate Mufasa and traumatizes Simba. Simba runs away believing he is the reason his father is dead and Scar believes that he also got Simba killed. Scar takes the throne and sends the kingdom of Pride Rock into some dark times. In the jungle Simba grows up with his new friends Timon and Pumba until the day Nala, his childhood friend accidentally finds him. She brings Simba back to Pride Rock and Simba then fights Scar for the Throne.
This time the movie has been made "live action" or rather it has been animated to look like real animals. Which they have done a great job with. In fact it looks like it could have been taken directly from Animal Planet. And that was the feeling I had the entire movie. I feel like I just spent two hours watching Animal Planet while some people made up their own conversation for the animals. The voice working sounded static and muffled through the entire movie, worst was kid-Simba. Further more the voices felt body-less, with exception for Timon and Pumba. Whenever anyone was talking it did not feel like it was them talking. It was hard to see mouth movement and they were more or less always pacing. The actors could just as well have been rehearsing lines by my side while I was watching a lion documentary. All in all I think they took "live action" too far on this one. The characters lost all visual characteristics. It was hard to tell one lioness from another and the same goes for the hyenas.
So was this a bad movie? I sound negative but it was a decent movie. Mainly because the source material is a really good movie and they have more or less taken it step by step. It is impressive how they have managed to make a twenty-five year old animation movie look so real. Timon and Pumba are bringing good, wholesome and many fun moments. Seth Rogen is a perfect fit for Pumba and so is Chiwetel Ejiofor a great fit for Scar. James Earl Jones is also back as the voice of Mufasa which is fantastic. On the other hand Beyoncé feels like a name-drop hire. Beyoncé is the voice of the adult Nala. But adult Nala has a somewhat small acting role. It does not feel justified to use the money for a top name singer like Beyoncé on a role where it is mostly fighting. Yes she has a duet with Simba and they even gave her a new three-word song. But it is not that much we get to hear her voice and we can not see Beyoncé, not as a person and not with any features of her in a lion version. So it feels like they probably spent a high amount of money to use her name instead of her skills.
In itself it is not a good movie. It is a creative and artistic interpretation of a good movie that brings some laughs and for some, tears. It has a few short new moments that adds to the story but not much. I will give it three out of five stars. It is a decent and adequate movie. And if you like The Lion King, this is worth a watch, if only just to see how others would have done it if it were live action.