‘Lion King’ Movie Review: With an impressive leap in visual effects, the film returns but it’s harder to feel the love

Life moves in a circle, ' Lion King' tells us, and, increasingly, so does studio moviemaking.

Close on heels of 'live-action' remakes of 'Aladdin' and 'Dumbo' and on precipice of a reborn ' Little Mermaid,' ' Lion King' is back, too. Round and round we go. Cue Savannah sunrise. Cue “Naaaants ingonyama bagithi baba!”

remakes have mselves been a mixed bag offering some combination of modern visual effects, fresh casting, and narrative tweaks to catch up more dated material to times. Don’t count on a new 'Song of South,' but much of Disney library will soon have been outfitted with digital clos for Internet era.

It’s easy to greet se remakes both cynically and a little erly. In case of ' Lion King,'  songs are still good, Shakespearean story still solid. And, well, Beyonce’s in it.

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And yet Jon Favreau’s ' Lion King', so abundant with realistic simulations of natural world, is curiously lifeless. most significant overhaul to an orwise slavishly similar retread is digital animation rendering of everything, turning film’s African grasslands and its animal inhabitants into a photo-realistic menrie. Disney worlds of cartoon and nature documentary have finally merged.

It’s an impressive leap in visual effects, which included Favreau, cinematographer Caleb Descehanel and VFX chief Rob Legato making use of virtual-reality environments. Some of computer-generated makeovers are beautiful. Mufasa, lion king voiced again by James Earl Jones, is wondrously regal, and his mane might be most majestic blonde locks since Robert Redford. And grass stalks of pride lands shimmer in African sunlight.

But it’s a hollow victory. By turning elastic, dynamic hand-drawn creations of Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff’s 1994 original into realistic-looking animals, “ Lion King” has greatly narrowed its spectrum of available expressions. Largely lost are kinds of characterization that can flow from voice actor to animation. (Think of how closely fused Tom Hanks is with Woody in 'Toy Story' movies.) Here, most of starry voice actors (including Donald Glover as grown-up lion prince Simba, Beyonce as older lioness Nala and Chiwetel Ejiofor as villaius Scar) feel remote from ir characters. And, in many cases, so do we.

It’s worth asking: Just how real do we need our talking animals? Do we need feared majordomo Zazu (voiced by John Oliver) to look eugh like a red-billed hornbill to win approval of avid birders? Lion King” may well be a pivotal stepping stone toward CGI splendors to come, but for w, it feels like realism has been substituted for enchantment.

That doesn’t stop an army of top craft professionals and an enviable voice cast from doing ir best to inject some vitality into ' Lion King.'  familiar songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are back, along with a new tune by Rice and Beyonce, though this time, score by Hans Zimmer, with Lebo M., feels more airy and buoyant.

Yet degree to which this 'Lion King' mimics first is disappointing. (Jeff Nathanson gets a solo writing credit but scene-to-scene film hues extremely close to original.) re’s a sound case to be made that tale, which has been running on Broadway for more than 20 years, needs little revision.

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But few deviations taken by filmmakers make you want more. role of Nala has rightfully been elevated and toughened. most rope for riffing has been extended to new Timon and Pumba: Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen. Taking over for Nathan Lane’s meerkat and Ernie Sabella’s warthog, Eichner and Rogen make ir own shtick toger and y, more than anyone else, give ' Lion King' a breath of fresh air, even as y make plenty of fart jokes.

Yet that’s hardly eugh to warrant a bland, unimaginative rehash like this, let alone merit Beyonce’s imperial presence. Instead, ' Lion King' is missing something. A purpose, maybe, and a heart. life expectancy of Disney classics has begun to feel more like a hamster wheel than a circle of life, and it’s getting harder and harder to feel love.

' Lion King,' a Walt Disney Co. release, is rated PG by Motion Picture Association of America for sequences of violence and peril, and some matic elements. Running time: 118 minutes. Two stars out of four.