Critics' First Reactions To The New Lion King Movie Claim It's Disney's Best Remake

The new Lion King film is one of this year's most hotly-anticipated releases, taking Disney's 1994 classic and giving it a new lease of life with a lick of CGI, a star-studded cast and the directorial touch of Jon Favreau.

But with all that hype also comes the concern that we might be disappointed when it's finally released later this month. After all, the original film is precious material to tackle - it comes with a great deal of nostalgia for many of us.

Well, you might be happy to learn that we now have the first reactions from critics who have not only had a sneak preview, but also arguably know best - and it looks like the general consensus so far is very positive.

Of course, with a computer-animated remake, one of the most important aspects has to be the visual effects - especially when we're talking about a movie that's all about animals, which are famously one of the trickiest things to animate well.

Thankfully, it sounds like the new Lion King film delivers on this front, with Uproxx's Mike Ryan gushing: "It's the most beautiful effects movie I've seen. Like next level, the game has changed kind of thing."

Brandon Davis, a writer from ComicBook.com, shares Ryan's sentiment, saying: "The attention to detail by Jon Favreau and the VFX team on The Lion King is just incredible. Beyond incredible. It looks so real so often."

Nerdist's Laura Prudom, meanwhile, implies we'll be getting a similar treatment to the breathtaking camerawork in a David Attenborough series, saying: "Visually, it's stunning - an unparalleled technical achievement that's like watching a nature documentary."

Okay, so if the CGI has been given the thumbs up, what about those voicing the characters?

With an A-list line-up featuring the likes of Donald Glover, Beyonce, Seth Rogan, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Billy Eichner - and James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa - there's a lot to work with.

First things first: Beyonce is 'really good', according to BuzzFeed's Adam B. Vary - who says the singer suited the role 'perfectly'.

As for the others, there are several show-stealing performances, with many critics praising Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan as double act Timon and Pumbaa.

"Eichner and Rogen steal the movie," said SlashFilm's Ben Pearson, while Collider's Perri Nemiroff reckons the duo are 'everything'.

All in all, it sounds like the critics are happy, with IGN Movies' Terri Schwartz summarising things nicely: "Really, if you're hoping this will be a near-exact adaptation of the animated movie with some absolutely jaw-dropping visual effects, you'll get what you're looking for."

Schwartz's colleague, Laura Prudom, also refers to the film as 'easily the best of Disney's remakes'.

High praise indeed - and a promising sign ahead of everyone's trip to the cinema when The Lion King is released on 19 July in both the UK and US.

Topics: Disney, Film, Entertainment, TV and Film

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman