by
Julien Faddoul
The Lion King
Photorealistic CG remake of The Lion King (1994).
Disgusting on every conceivable level, including the aethstetic one. Greed and sycophantic subversion are the only themes that resonate onscreen. As a work of plagiarism, it’s expectedly as egregious an artistic atrocity as Disney has committed yet, with many sequences rendered shot-for-shot, line-for-line from the 1994 film. Kind of ironic for a work that preaches the circle of life. At the same time, it’s probably the cinematic apotheosis for our present times: many erudite viewers will acknowledge a similarity between Scar/The Hyenas and another current would-be-dictator with a pack of henchmen who profess vile tenets (though Favreau is careful to tread lightly here.) But this is really a story of corporate manipulation on the flock of idiotic sheep that are modern civilian audiences who just don’t give a damn. This is the umpteenth Disney remake so none of this was a surprise, but this is certainly one of the saddest cinematic experiences I’ve ever been subjected to.
d – Jon Favreau
w – Jeff Nathanson
ph – Caleb Deschanel
pd – James Chinlund
m – Hans Zimmer
ed – Adam Gerstel, Mark Livolsi
p – Jon Favreau, Jeffrey Silver, Karen Gilchrist
Cast: Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles, James Earl Jones, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, John Oliver, John Kani, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Eric André, Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary Shahadi Wright Joseph
