By RICHMOND ADAMS, Movie Reviewer
One might open any review of Jon Favreau’s The Lion King with a note as to its remaking the 1994 film directed by Robert Allers and Rob Minkoff.
Conversely, one may also begin by noting that if it had not been for a group of my students about three years ago, I would not have encountered the first, let alone the second, telling of Hamlet in the desert as lived by animals, only some of whom were full of sound and fury.
As it is, given my propensity for student-centered learning (and rewarding them for hard work in my class), I endured the near-rapturous enjoyment of my pedagogical charges as they seemed to sing every word to every song in the 1994 tale of Simba (Matthew Broderick) while he came of age after the death of his father Mufasa (Darth–err–James Earl Jones) resulting from the Claudius-like machinations of Evil Uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons).
With such a background, and that the Lady Dr. Jane (my wife) had never seen the 1994 film, I trudged along to see how the present story would find its retelling some quarter century after its original portrayal. Well, that’s not quite true as Hamlet has been with us in its Shakespearean form since 1601, I believe, but I digress a bit.
The present version is told through the marvels of CGI, and seemed so lifelike that I found myself asking, when Mufasa (Darth Va–err–James Earl Jones again) first appeared, if he happened to be an actual lion. Quickly disabused of that un-techy notion, the story followed the same pattern of Hamlet; in the present instance, however, I will say that the complications appear to be more enhanced than they were first seen during the mid-1990s cinematic portrayal of the Prince who would (or would not) be King.
As one rather interesting change, Evil Uncle Scar is now played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who may be remembered from his portrayal of a ruthless revolutionary in the dystopian Children of Men (2006) and certainly for his more current role in 12 Years a Slave (2013).
Further of interest, Simba himself is now played by Donald Glover, who roughly now is the same age as Broderick when he donned the mane of the Prince (mid 30s). The Rosencrantz and Gildenstern types, Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and Timon (Billy Eichner), along with Zazu (Horatio, I think, is the best parallel from Shakespeare’s play) (John Oliver) form something of a court-in-exile while Evil Uncle Scar uses hyenias to enforce his will on the remaining lions after Mufasa’s untimely and (of course) orchestrated death.
Led by Queen Sarabi (Alfre Woodard), who, unlike Gertrude in Hamlet, does not marry the new king, and Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter), Simba’s close friend from childhood who persuades him to “take up arms against a sea (or, in the present case, desert) of troubles/And by opposing end them” (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1),
the Prince overthrows his Evil Uncle, and, without even needing the help of a Norwegian lion possibly named Fortinbras, restores order to Denmark–err–the Pride Lands.
Was it a good film? The CGI certainly captivated my interest, and Shakespeare’s magnificence isn’t going anywhere, so I could follow (again) the story of family dysfunction at the highest levels of divine right kingship. At the same time, I thought this version, more than its predecessor, could otherwise be titled What Would Have Happened to Luke if Anakin Skywalker Had Not Gone to the Dark Side.
There is little here in terms of a story that could not have been told “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away;” all one needs to do is change the scenery, throw in a space ship alongside a bar sequence, and Star Wars, Episode X would have its opening credits scrolling up the screen. Heck, Zazu even saved a long stick (not surprisingly about the same size as a light saber) for Simba to use upon his return to the Pride Lands as he launched the war against the Emper–sorry again–his Evil Uncle Scar.
So finally, I will give Favreau’s film a 2.5 from 5 stars for its CGI and creative use of the literary canon. As for my students (Chandler, Natalie, Alexa, Trenton, Ali, Micah, Katrina, Josie, and anyone I have unintentionally omitted) as I said three years ago, I want them to know that I still prefer John Ford and The Sun Shines Bright.