The Lion King's reviews
Media reviews
The Washington Post
'The Lion King' is hugely entertaining, from the dazzling visuals to the top-notch voice cast. And it?s just deep enough to give a cat who?s come of age something to sink his teeth into.
Entertainment Weekly
The story and the songs, with a few notable if hardly unexpected updates, are fondly faithful to the original; the magic mostly intact. The movie?s CG is so elaborately, meticulously made that it doesn?t leave much room for the spark of spontaneity.
Variety
By focusing his attention on upgrading the look of the earlier film while sticking largely to its directorial choices and script, Favreau reinforces the strength of the 1994 classic. If you were never a fan of 'The Lion King', then nothing here will win you over.
The Wrap
Jon Favreau?s remake looks incredibly literal, but the digital animal performers lack the facial expressions and body movement to tell the story
The Hollywood Reporter
Very few remakes have adhered as closely to their original versions as this one does. Everything here is so safe and tame and carefully calculated as to seem predigested. There's nary a surprise in the whole two hours
New York Times
The songs don?t have the pop or the splendor. There is a lot of professionalism but not much heart. It may be that the realism of the animals makes it hard to connect with them as characters.
Vanity Fair
'The Lion King', ultimately, is simply a copy?not a true remake. It?s exactly the movie Disney wanted to make, which is good news for them?but a shame for us.
The Verge
Disney?s live-action 'Lion King' is pretty, but so unnecessary. It?s a showcase for CGI tech, but it shows the technology?s weakness as well.
The Playlist
It looks majestic and immaculate and especially early on, awe-inspiring. But impressive visuals on their own, without depth or much emotion, are just that, feel empty over time and then just turn into enervating noise by the end.
Screen Crush
As a purely technical achievement, the new CGI cast of 'The Lion King' is impressive. As a means to tell its fictional story, it is deeply misguided.
Indiewire
This soulless chimera of a film comes off as little more than a glorified tech demo from a greedy conglomerate ? a well-rendered but creatively bankrupt self-portrait of a movie studio eating its own tail.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Lanzarote