![]() ![]() But it’s in service of a glorified fan film, a $200 million version of that “ kids remake Raiders of the Lost Ark in their backyard” thing except with the backing of the biggest entertainment company on the planet. Yes, the technical talent and artistic intent on display is quite impressive. It’s every bit as grand as the final battle in The Jungle Book. The film’s action climax, while pretty similar to the original, is the only sequence where it feels about as lively and (in spots) more melodramatic than what came before. The film really only comes alive right at the end. Beyonce gets a new Oscar-friendly single, and she and Glover sing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” together with relative success. ![]() Simba (voiced by JD McCrary as a youth and Donald Glover as an adult) and Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph/Beyonce Carter-Knowles) are fine, but they are mostly overshadowed by their costars. This longer version shares a core problem with its predecessor, namely that Simba’s arc has no middle act. There is a shameless reference to a prior Disney flick, but it works because the gag knows exactly when to stop. These comic relief characters are animated just enough to come alive as flesh-and-blood characters, and the vocal actors get plenty of levity with jokes both new and old. The second act kicks off with an admittedly impressive stampede sequence sequence, and the appearance of Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogen) offers a respite from the stone-faced non-drama. That may be true, but, damn, he was fabulous. Yet even he is hamstrung by a 118-minute movie that still doesn't have time to let him sing a full version of “Be Prepared.” His constant lusting after Sarabi plays as an answer to folks who complained back in the day that Jeremy Irons’ bitchy baddie was a negative gay stereotype. He does feel more alive than his co-stars. Chiwetel Ejiofor makes an excellent and nuanced Scar. John Oliver is inexplicably bad as Zazu-it sounds like a bad dub-and he gets the, uh, lion’s share of the added expositional dialogue. ![]()
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