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Lion King 2.0

What I liked: The animation was incredible. It still didn't look quite like the real thing but it was close. Like a really cool video game. I liked the baby animals, the baby rhino, the baby ostriches, the baby hippo, the little warthogs were surprisingly cute. I liked that the instrumental sections of some of the Broadway songs ended up in the sound track. I liked the paint by insect technique that Rafiki used, but I don't think I'd hang that kind of art on my wall. Being in the theater for the stampede scene was pretty cool because the thunderous hoof falls made the seats shake

What I didn't: So, this is essentially a shot by shot recreation of the original. I'm not really sure why they did this it is exactly the same for 95% and the 5% changes actually make it worse. They could have included the incredible songs from the Broadway production, that music is great. Instead they kept the old songs dropped some and changed some lyrics. They tried to highlight some of the politics of the situation but it doesn't really increase the suspense. And I feel like with the added details any aspiring meerkat  detective could have figured out what actually happened with Mufasa. Also making the animals so much more realistic made the unrealistic parts all the more noticeable. Like that none of the hyenas are killed in the hyena lion face off. I feel like usually if I lion pounces on your neck and throws you against a wall, you might have some minor problems. Maybe. Or if you have a real warthog distracting a pack of hyenas the warthog does not have great odds. Also let's all remember that mandrills are terrifying. I don't really think that Rafiki needed his stick to do serious damage in the final battle. If anything the stick reduces Rafiki's effectiveness in a fight.

Who should watch this? People who liked the original fine but would rather watch Planet Earth.

Would I watch it again? An interesting philosophical question. If I am willing to rewatch the original, and the new one is an exact copy of the original, is watching this movie just rewatching the original? Is there a defensable argument for watching the original again but not the duplicate?


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