Geekscape Reviews ‘The Lion King’ In 4DX

So far, the live action Disney remakes have been hit-or-miss. It seemed like the house of mouse may have hit its stride after a remake of Aladdin back in May that was better than it had any right to be. Two short months later, one of the most beloved films of the Disney Renaissance era, The Lion King, would be next to get the “live action” treatment in the form of a CGI adaptation aiming to make the animals look as real as possible. Like its protagonist, this version had some huge expectations to live up to. Yet, it never quite reaches the heights it needs to if it wanted to take the crown.

Opening with a shot-for-shot remake of the Circle of Life sequence from the animated film, we’re quickly dropped into an African Pride where young Simba learns the ins and outs of life from Mufasa, his father and current ruler of Pride Rock. While the cub may live a carefree life leading up to his eventual role as the next king, his birth threw a wrench in the plans of Scar, Mufasa’s jealous and conniving brother that would have been next in line if not for his nephew. Once plans are set into motion for Scar to usurp the throne, Simba must learn what it means to be king as he finds his role in the great circle of life.

If you’re coming into this film expecting it to be true to the 1994 original, then you should be happy with what the film presents. The remake rarely deviates from the beats of the film its based off of, from some dialogue being word-for-word to every major aspect of the story being intact. Despite this, these scenes often feel like they’re being given new life thanks to what might be the best CGI I’ve ever seen. If someone were to mistake these animals for the real thing, I wouldn’t blame them. If they weren’t moving their lips while talking, it would be easy to confuse this film with a nature documentary with voices dubbed over the real animals. Unfortunately, the dubbing is where the problems start with this latest take on the story.

As a cartoon, the original film had the benefit of allowing its animals to show human emotion when necessary, which is part of the reason why the movie is so beloved to this day. While the CGI may be incredible, what we lost in the process with the remake is the emotional aspects that the story constantly calls for. Since real animals don’t emote, it eventually became distracting about half way through the movie when the most impactful points of the narrative fall flat when the emotionless faces of the characters don’t match what the voices are conveying. Even then, the voice acting rarely elevates above being simply “okay”, with Beyonce’s take on Nala and shockingly, James Earl Jones’ reprisal of Mufasa being shockingly bad. Both actors have no life in their delivery and sound like they’re reading off of a script, making an emotionless take on the story feel even more lifeless. With so much of the film being exact copies of the 1994 version, they might as well have plugged Jones’ lines into Mufasa from that film and it would have been better off. Donald Glover’s Simba and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Scar are planted firmly in the middle while the side characters are the only ones to really shine. Even then, while Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan make Timon and Pumba their own, I couldn’t help but feel like Zazu came off as John Oliver playing Zazu as opposed to believing Zazu was his own character, even though the Last Week Tonight host did a technically sound job.

While most of the film was a direct adaptation, there were aspects that were changed with mixed results. Giving Scar more of a backstory regarding his jealousy over Mufasa’s marriage and referencing a past attempt at taking the throne helped develop more of his resentment towards his brother, while the villainous hyenas are given more of an independent role in the story. Now led by Shenzi, (with Florence Kasumba taking the reigns from Whoopi Goldberg as another voice over success story), the pack is much more dangerous than they were previously portrayed. Acting as accomplices with Scar as opposed to henchmen, it gave the former comic relief characters much more gravity than they had in the past. Timon and Pumba live with Simba as part of a community of outcasts rather than being a three person group, adding a layer of complexity to Simba’s struggle towards finding himself when the other animals never get as used to having a predator around compared to the meerkat and warthog.

On the other side of the praise, some of the changes that are made are completely baffling, with the biggest offender being Scar’s famous Be Prepared musical number. With the song reportedly being absent from an early cut before fans caught wind of it and demanded it be re-added, having nothing at all might have been better than what we got. Less of a song and more of a spoken word monologue with sound in the background, this was a rare change that I thought made the film actively worse. Another offender is Rafiki’s reduced role. When you consider the mandrill didn’t have a very big role in the original to begin with and you’re left with one of the most pivotal scenes in the movie feeling incomplete. This feels even more jarring when new scenes can result in nothing but mass confusion, like what must have been a five minute fur journey through places I never want to visit in a film again. Even then, some slight alterations play with the idea that most of the audience has already seen this movie in some form, leading to some genuinely funny moments. Let’s just say you shouldn’t expect every song to play out the way you’d expect.

Viewing the film in 4DX enhanced the film during some of its most action packed scenes. Notably, the wildebeest stampede and elephant graveyard scenes came to life as the seats rocked with the chaos surrounding Simba. Steam would double as smoke and dust while blasts of water would surprise us as characters slid through puddles and lakes, adding some energetic atmosphere to the upbeat songs that are all performed with much more energy compared to the speaking scenes. Outside of these sections though, much of the effects felt out of place, with water sprays seemingly shooting for no reason or the seats swaying when nothing was happening. 4DX is best when the immersion matches what the characters are experiencing, but unlike a film like Spider-Man that got the most out of the effect through restraint, The Lion King finds itself on both ends of the spectrum. When it fits, it absolutely enhances the experience. Every other time, it takes you out of the film when you’re wondering why you just got sprayed for the third time.

Overall, The Lion King is an enjoyable, flawed adaptation of an all-time classic that should have played it safer in a film that already plays it incredibly safe. A handful of solid additions to the plot get bogged down by some truly baffling decisions that even when ignoring the original, don’t stand very well on their own. To generously put it, some uninspired voice acting matched with a lack of emotion on the characters, (a byproduct of the realistic art style), make the events of the film feel almost disingenuous. Even when at its best, Jon Favreau’s efforts rarely feel as strongly as they should, leaving us with a well made, gorgeous film that feels ultimately soulless. If you want to spend a fun night out with the family or experience an updated version of a childhood favorite, The Lion King is worth seeing for the jaw dropping visuals alone. Just don’t expect to enjoy it as much as you remember.

Final score: 3/5