The Lion King (2019) Review and Bound Look

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The Lion King (2019) was a ‘real life’ adaption of the classic 90’s animation film.

This was originally published in 2019, edited in April 2024

We recently went to see The Lion King in the cinema back in August 2019 before it finished its run. We went and enjoyed it at the new cinema in Bodmin. Check out this post for more information on that.

The Lion King-My Ratings

My star rating 4/5

Magic rating  2/5

Motion Sickness Rating 1/5

Grossness rating 0/5

Spoiler Free Review

I loved the film! Potentially more than the animation as-controversial opinion-The Lion King just isn’t one of my favourite classics!

This was definitely the most talked about and highly anticipated ‘real-life’ film version coming out by the public and press. It was directed by Jon Favreau who directed Iron Man (and since so much Star Wars content) so is currently a Disney darling it seems!

The story of The Lion King is vaguely based on Hamlet and set in the Pride Lands, Africa. It is a tale of two lion brothers and a son/nephew along with other animals in a circle of life.

There is some great casting in this film including Donald Glover, Beyonce (who both sing beautifully) and Seth Rogan (who doesn’t sing quite so beautifully). I am also very glad that Mufasa was still voiced by James Earl Jones-a true Disney legend.

I loved the scene with the hair (no spoilers!) which was very long for what it was, yet I felt it really highlighted the emotion and message of the film-The Circle of Life. Yet, as discussed in this article in The Guardian, they miss an opportunity to talk about real climate change.

Real life Vs animation

I do wonder why they did the film. Perhaps because the original animation was one of the top grossing animation films ever? Perhaps it is to make money? Raise an environmental or social point? Or perhaps they just wanted to.

Now the question is which is better? The films are certainly different and I feel different where it needed to be different rather than just for the sake of it. For example the relationship between Scar and the Hyenas seems more truthful and realistic, due to this their song is also very different. My partner prefers the cartoon version of the film for this very reason-he likes the stylised animation and songs especially the song between Scar and the Hyenas.

The Lion King Inspired Look

For more details on my makeup and nail art be sure to scoot over here and read this!

For my bound look I wore a skirt from Lotus Leggings which features a stylised version of the ‘Hakuna Matata’ scene complete with Zazu, Pumba, Simba, Timon and bright, colourful plants. The skirt is beautiful and I love it but it is very small and short so be aware when purchasing! I wore it over leggings. I went with an orange t-shirt, caramel/beige would of worked well too, to reflect the colours in the skirt and eye make-up and for that lion-y look!

Have you seen the 2019 The Lion King? What did you think of it? Share with us in the comments!