Cutting-edge technology tells a story of primal power in Disney's new version of "The Lion King." It's the studio's third reworking of an animated classic this year, following an overstuffed "Aladdin" and a weighed-down "Dumbo," but get ready: "The Lion King" is a whole different animal. It may not capture hearts like the 1994 original, or even the still-running Broadway play, but this extraordinary movie is so visually stunning and technically innovative that it could mark another "Avatar"-level event.
Using computer animation and virtual-reality techniques rather than ink and paint, "The Lion King" creates an African savanna of breathtaking photorealism. It isn't just the gorgeous backdrops that trick the eye but the wildlife, from lions with rippling ribs to rhinoceros beetles with whirring wings. Some mental readjustment is required when the animals, as regal and impassive as anything in a National Geographic documentary, start talking.
The unseen voice actors do almost as much heavy lifting as the effects team, though with less consistent results. Simba, the young lion exiled from his kingdom, is played as a cub by an excellent JD McCrary, but as an adult by a somewhat too-casual Donald Glover. His betrothed, Nala (Beyoncee Knowles-Carter), still has only a few lines, despite a slightly expanded role. Comic relief comes from Billy Eichner as the sassy meerkat Timon and Seth Rogen as his warthog sidekick, Pumbaa; you'll hear Keegan-Michael Key and John Oliver, too.
