The Lion King (1994)

            I will always stand by the statement that The Lion King is the best thing that Disney has ever created. I will forever die on that hill. I love everything about this film. It nails every aspect that a Disney film tries to nail. The characters are fantastic, the score is tremendous, the songs are catchy and heartwarming, the story is great, and the ending is truly marvelous. I understand that there is some controversy over the origin of this story, and I welcome you to do the research, but, personally, I do not care. This film is its own thing, and it represents a turning point in Disney, where they pull away a bit from all of the princess tales and start to add more adventure style stories to their repertoire. I will not be getting into what the story is about because by this point, even if you have not seen the film, chances are you know what it is about. Instead, I just want to talk about the reasons why I love this film.

            The characters are great. Every single one of them. And the voice actors were all perfectly cast, and all do a terrific job. Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Sarabi, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Scar, these are all fantastic characters, and all serve a very clear and finite purpose. James Earl Jones was the perfect casting for Mufasa. His voice is so powerful and grants Mufasa the absolute presence of a true king. He is regal and majestic, just as a king should be. Equally, Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job of voicing Scar. He sounds every bit as conniving, bitter, and angry as someone of Scar’s character should sound. While Matthew Broderick and the rest of the cast also do a fine job, Irons and Jones are the two that stand out to me the most. They offer a distinct contrast between what is identified as good and evil in the film. Along with the voices and characters, the animation is also gorgeous to look at. The color palette is vibrant and the scenery of Pride Rock, as well as the jungle that Simba lives in with Timon and Pumbaa all offer some great visuals. Do you know what else is absolutely amazing in this film? The freaking film score composed by Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of the best composers of all time and he is at his absolute best here. The opening score, the score during the stampede, and, most of all, his composition during the final act are all truly flawless pieces. They evoke such emotions from you. I know some of you have cried just listening to those pieces. Speaking of crying, I have never not cried during this film. It just has that effect on me.

            All things considered; this will likely always go down as my favorite Disney film of all time. I just cannot imagine Disney making another film that touches my heart in quite the same way that this one does. It has everything that you could want. There is hardship, catchy music, brilliant emotions, incredible redemption, and one of the coolest, most dramatic, and incredibly inspirational scenes ever made when Simba talks to his father right before returning to Pride Rock. If you have ever felt lost in life, that scene will surely have an impact on you. I have seen this film more times than I can count, and I will likely watch it several more times in my life. It is perfection. Official Rating: 5 Stars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fast and the Furious

                    With the latest installment hitting theaters, I figured now would be a good time to look at where the franchise began. This is a tale of humble beginnings when you consider where the franchise is at now, and what the plot has become. Imagine trying to explain to the younger generation who started out with Fast Five what the original film was all about. The first question they would ask you is, “where is The Rock?”. We need to keep in mind that the first film came out in 2001. After two decades, we knew that the franchise would change, but did we ever expect it to be this drastic? To fully understand, let us take a look back to the origins of the franchise, and give an honest review of the first installment.             The film starts off with a few cars pulling off a heist on a truck, which then leads to us getting introduced to LAPD officer Brian O’...
Read more

Searching

                    I love watching films that I go into blind that end up being one of the best films I end up seeing all year, and that was the case with the film Searching . I knew virtually nothing about this film, and basically just watched it off the recommendation of my sister-in-law; She did not disappoint with her recommendation. Let me start off by saying that this film will not be enjoyed by everyone for one very important reason, it is shot in a strange way. It utilizes that filming style where rather than looking like it is filmed on a traditional camera, everything that you see is on a computer screen, and you only see the film through a webcam, or found footage from sites such as YouTube, or other video sites. It takes a bit to get used to, and if you are someone that does not enjoy found footage films, you will probably have a hard time enjoying this film, especially since the entire film is seen through a compu...
Read more

Resident Evil

                    A good friend of mine was recently telling me about how much he loves the Resident Evil franchise, and it made me realize that I have never actually reviewed any of the films. Well, it is time to fix that and start at the beginning. While I was never a big fan of the games, I can wholeheartedly say that if you are a big fan of the games, you are probably going to hate the films. If you are not a fan of the games, you will probably enjoy the films slightly, but not much. This film is just not that good. Even if you go into it with an open mind, it is difficult to get into it with its screenplay, effects, and acting performances. Aside from that, you also have the unique and whacky directing style of Paul W. S. Anderson. Having directed films such as AVP , Mortal Kombat , and Event Horizon , you know to expect some zaniness and crazy effects in this film, and that is exactly what you get.    ...
Read more