Jon Favreau’s remake of the 1994 animated classic, The Lion King, is nothing less than stunning. From the ecstatic Zulu chant that opens the film to the thundering drumbeat that ends it, it sometimes gets a bit distracting (for those of us who saw the original) to be constantly comparing between the two versions, the remake feels by far closer to the original, compared to any of the recent remakes Disney has released so far.
Favreau was smart not to fall into the pitfall of the original director by casting Caucasian voice actors to portray the main (“African”) characters. The lead voice actors in this version are: Donald Glover (as Simba), Alfre Woodard (as Simba’s mom, Sarabi) and Beyoncé (as Nala). The only actor that made it from the original cast is the phenomenal, James Earl Jones, as Mufasa.
By focusing his attention mostly on upgrading the look of the earlier film, Favreau reinforces the strength of the 1994 classic. One of the biggest strengths of the remake is the remastered music, it’s beats mesmerizes every part of your body. The CGI is truly gravitating, a real feast for the eyes and so thrilling moments become even more tense thanks to the animatronics technology.
If Favreau’s most important task in directing the remake was simply not to mess it up, he succeeded with flying colors. I loved every moment of it (and so did my kids), its a natural Thumbs Up.