New ‘Lion King’ Remake Is More Creative Dead End Than Circle Of Life

Fresh Air film critic Justin Chang says: 

“The Hamlet-inspired plot is nearly identical to the original. …  The crucial difference is that, instead of the original’s gorgeous hand-drawn visuals, the new movie looks and feels like live-action, an illusion achieved through a sophisticated mix of digital imagery and virtual-reality techniques.  The result plays like a Hollywood blockbuster disguised as a National Geographic documentary, or perhaps the world’s most expensive safari-themed karaoke video. The movie feels both overwhelmed by its technical virtuosity and shackled by its fidelity to the source material.”