Starring: Donald Glover, Beyoncé, James Earl Jones

Directed by Jon Favreau

Disney, out now

 

Lion cub Simba flees his homeland, believing that he caused the death of his father, though it’s all part of the evil plans of his wicked Uncle Scar.

Jon Favreau’s remake of the 1994 animated classic distinguishes itself by its wonderful photo-realistic animation, but even with the extra 30 minutes running time, it doesn’t really add anything to a pretty much perfect original. And while we’ve previously criticised Disney’s live action remakes as steering too far from the source, this one actually could have done with a new element rather than stretching things out.

The animation is superb, from the muscled sinews beneath the perfectly undulating skin to the most perfect of clear eyes, surrounded by individually crafted hairs – this is the best animal CGI to date. You’ll probably bristle every time you hear someone calling this a live action version (the landscapes may actually be live action) as it’s still an animation, albeit computer created rather than painted cels.

It’s a masterstroke having James Earl Jones reprise his role as patriarch of the pride, Mufasa, and in truth a lot of the original voices were better – Jeremy Irons’ Scar and Nathan Lane’s Timon have not been bettered respectively by Chewitel Ejiofor or Billy Eichner. But the young cast of Donald Glover (Simba) and Beyoncé (Nala) have modern box office clout, and there’s no doubt that this will deliver big bucks.

It’s also worth mentioning the voice-syncing to the animals’ mouths, and in some cases it’s not perfect. That’s simply because the creatures haven’t been anthropomorphised, meaning that their jaws and lips don’t move in the same way as humans, and the words don’t feel they have come from the lion that’s opening and shutting its mouth. It’s a stylistic decision, and isn’t overly distracting, but it’s still there.

Verdict: Go for the animation, which is superb, and see it on the biggest possible screen. There’s some new songs and Hans Zimmer’s score has been given a makeover, but it’s no substitute for the original. We’d be lion if we said otherwise. 8/10