The Lion King (1994)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: The Lion King follows a fairly simple script, but the way that it's brought to life gives the whole thing an impressive sense of grandeur and power which would have otherwise been lacking. Indeed a fairly small number of simple scenes amount to Simba's journey from birth and then to exile and return here, but the incredible musical numbers and Disney's beautiful animated world-building elevates that tenfold into something with genuine cinematic gravitas. Sure there are some mentions in the script of the circle of life and the natural order which brings a little heft along with a story which does pack real tragedy, but ultimately the surface-level simplicity of the script which brings that to life means I'm of the opinion that it's only really become the powerful classic that it is because of that execution. There's arguably no problem with that though, because it shows that there's so much more to a great film than a layered script, and in the end the ability for great music and visuals to wrap you up and hit you hard is demonstrated absolutely perfectly.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: When you boil it down it really is just a few simple scenes, and you can't help thinking that the great story could have hit harder had the script delved even a little deeper.
  
  VERDICT: An exercise in giving a very simple script genuine power and gravitas, 'The Lion King,' largely works because of its amazing visuals and music, but frankly there's nothing at all wrong with that when that stuff is so damn good.

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