Jude Anthany Joseph's third feature, after Ohm Shanti Oshana and Oru Muthassi Gadha, released on Prime Video at midnight today. This seemingly feel-good film, also seemingly made in limited spaces and with a shoestring budget, tackles a concept and issue never tested before in Malayalam cinema circles. In Sara'S, we follow the life of Sara Vincent (Anna Ben), a young, bubbly, yet unapologetic filmmaker who struggles to make it big in the industry. She continuously assists male directors and is in the scripting works of her dream film. Sara has decided, from her school days, that she would not bear any kids. This is when she meets Jeevan (Sunny Wayne); her relationship with him subsequently brings her ideology and decision into a confrontation with the established norms of society, family and child-rearing. Anna Ben in Sara'S The best aspect in which Sara'S has excelled, without doubt, is its hard-hitting taut script. Debutant Akshay Hareesh deserves praise for managin...
Disney's fascination with the live action retellings of its' classic animated films continues with presumably great success, turning the venture into one of the movie production giant's most lucrative businesses. 2019 would appear, for most, to be Disney's most profitable years, with it's colossal blockbuster releases, Marvel's Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel and Pixar's Toy Story 4 shaking the cash registers and grossing over a billion dollars. In it's latest in the series of live action re-imaginations of previous animated classics, Disney released the photorealistic remake of the 1991 animated musical classic, The Lion King. With Jon Favreau, who previously helmed 2016's The Jungle Book, returning to direct the film and a stellar voice cast signing up to voice the iconic characters, once could only expect the gigantic way in which the movie would attract huge footfalls. Here's Reviewer's review of The Lion King.
Honestly, there is not much to spoil in this film, apparently made as a nostalgic walk-down-memory-lane for fans who grew up watching the animated original. The songs, the music, the visuals, and the characters still remain fresh in their minds and one is left to wonder whether the makers tried to bank the success of the new film on this sole sentiment. Nothing new, or genuine, is created in the film. The same music, the same songs, and the same sequences are replicated in The Lion King, except for the addition of one new single. This may be one of the reasons why Jon Favreau's live action version of the story fails to be memorable, despite it's commendable to attempt to make full use of its' cinematic and technological resources. Right from the first shot of the sunrise in the opening song "Circle of Life", the viewers are pushed to reminisce on the original film and the colorful manner in which it told the story of a fight for power over Pride Rock.
Not that the film is not worth watching. Jon Favreau has brought the best of Hollywood's technical geniuses to work in this film, especially in the visual effects department. Viewers are treated to an accurately depicted world of the African savanna where all creatures live in perfect harmony. The characters in the film- the powerful lion pride, the vicious and cunning hyenas, even Timon and Pumbaa are wonderfully crafted. The Lion King may not be Favreau's finest work, but his opus with the Jungle Book may have given a huge impetus to the director and the makers to relive the legend of Pride Rock. But the part where the film falls short is the expression-less look of it's key characters. It's hard to find the young Simbaa smiling or crying. It might be a detail, for many, to miss, but remember, it was these mixed expressions by Simbaa after his father's death, which made the sequence where he tries to wake up Mufasa, so heart-breaking and tear-jerking.
The Lion King has incredible camerawork which deftly captures fine shots from the crawling rat through a dark cave to the father-son duo of Mufasa and Simbaa overlooking the vast expanses of their domain. The multi-talented voice cast have made their presence felt, and among the many names, it happens to be the legendary James Earl Jones, who also voiced Mufasa in the original and Seth Rogen, who voices Pumbaa, who steal the show here.
MPAA rating: PG (for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements)
Runtime: 118 min
Reviewer-The Blog©
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Honestly, there is not much to spoil in this film, apparently made as a nostalgic walk-down-memory-lane for fans who grew up watching the animated original. The songs, the music, the visuals, and the characters still remain fresh in their minds and one is left to wonder whether the makers tried to bank the success of the new film on this sole sentiment. Nothing new, or genuine, is created in the film. The same music, the same songs, and the same sequences are replicated in The Lion King, except for the addition of one new single. This may be one of the reasons why Jon Favreau's live action version of the story fails to be memorable, despite it's commendable to attempt to make full use of its' cinematic and technological resources. Right from the first shot of the sunrise in the opening song "Circle of Life", the viewers are pushed to reminisce on the original film and the colorful manner in which it told the story of a fight for power over Pride Rock.
Not that the film is not worth watching. Jon Favreau has brought the best of Hollywood's technical geniuses to work in this film, especially in the visual effects department. Viewers are treated to an accurately depicted world of the African savanna where all creatures live in perfect harmony. The characters in the film- the powerful lion pride, the vicious and cunning hyenas, even Timon and Pumbaa are wonderfully crafted. The Lion King may not be Favreau's finest work, but his opus with the Jungle Book may have given a huge impetus to the director and the makers to relive the legend of Pride Rock. But the part where the film falls short is the expression-less look of it's key characters. It's hard to find the young Simbaa smiling or crying. It might be a detail, for many, to miss, but remember, it was these mixed expressions by Simbaa after his father's death, which made the sequence where he tries to wake up Mufasa, so heart-breaking and tear-jerking.
For most of it's run time, The Lion King is reminiscent of it's original parent material. Despite the herculean and commendable task of retelling the story in the live action style, Jon Favreau's venture fails to showcase the spirit of the animated version. The makers craft a wonderful visual extravangaza but storytelling comes to an abrupt halt here, leaving fans to wonder whether Disney's third live action retelling this year dedicated more emphasis to treating the eyes, rather than the heart, which made the animated version, a repeatedly enjoyable film.Reviewer© rating: 3 stars
MPAA rating: PG (for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements)
Runtime: 118 min
Reviewer-The Blog©
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