Hey guys, this past summer, I saw the remake with afew of my friends, and, I have some good and BAD reviews. Before we get started, if you haven't seen the remake yet, please don't read this article as I'm about to give some potential spoilers. Now, let's get started:

The characters: I thought the characters were great and the fact that James Earl Jones reprised HIS role as Mufasa was an EPIC plus for me! I also thought Beyonce was great as Nala, and I thought Seth Rogen did a pretty spot-on Pumbaa. I will admit-James Earl Jones sounded like he's aged, but if you think about it, he has. The guy's, like, in his 80's now. A fellow friend of mine also told me Whoopi Goldberg reprised HER role as Shenzi, but when I heard her talk, it didn't sound like her AT ALL. Maybe they asked her to change her voice alittle bit, but that could actually be a different voice actress. I'll have to look that up later.

Simba's performance was actually incredible. I was blown away. I could relate to what he said when he and Nala had that arguement. I honestly felt the pain he experienced after thinking HE was the cause of Mufasa's death. In fact, in some forms, he even reminded me of the original. Yes, I was alittle dissapointed when I noticed his and Mufasa's manes weren't red, and that Scar's wasn't black, but, these were the same characters in live-action form, so a little error like that is expected.

However, I felt like Zazu's role (and maybe Timon's and Rafiki's roles) were slightly smaller because these three had major roles in the original. Whenever I DID see them, I thought Rafiki was outstanding. Timon was good, even though he sounded alittle "out there" sometimes. (That expression is a much nicer thing than the actual word I wanted to say, trust me.) Zazu would kinda make himself a moron whenever he tried to crack that woodpecker joke. That dissapointed me alittle bit.

The songs: What really impressed me was how true they stayed to the songs. THAT earned some major plus points from me. I even tapped my foot to a couple, but I had to keep the tapping low because I didn't want to disturb my friend and the other movie goers. I hate how they slowed the beat to Be Prepared, though. That song always kinda had a fast beat to me. When The Circle Of Life started playing, I swear to God it sounded JUST LIKE the original! I was very impressed with how they did that one. It also made me get emotional.

When Timon and Pumbaa started singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight, I was dancing inside. What a performance! They outdid themselves with that one! Beyonce did a STUPENDOUS job singing HER parts of Can You Feel The Love Tonight. I was impressed with how she sang her parts of that song. A new song, called Spirit, also sung by Beyonce, started playing, and it literally brought me to tears. What a powerful song! In fact, when I got home, I played it, and I just BAWLED. I think a new song by Elton John played at the end, and even though I didn't really get to hear all of it, I was SO HAPPY to see his name in the credits! More epicness right there!

The script: Okay, here comes my major problem. I think they changed things up. For example, Scar doesn't actually put Zazu in his mouth, although he still tries to eat him. Plus, the lines aren't word for word. Where Mufasa says "Take Nala home.", he says "Take Nala back to Pride Rock." in the remake. Oh, and where he pleads saying "Scar, brother, help me!", he just says "Scar, help me!". That made me mad. It also irritated me. They didn't say the lines in the original correctly, and THAT earned some minus points from me. That's what I hate about these remakes. They mess the original lines.

DARE I admit THIS part?!? Get ready to feel your tempers flare, because they actually cut out the part where Rafiki smacks Simba on the head! They also cut out the part where he tells Simba you can either run from the past or learn from it. I was MAD AS HELL!!! In fact, I can feel my anger boiling as I write about this. That was such a funny scene, and for them to cut it out like that, that's when I knew I was right about SOME of my doubts about this remake. They also cut out the part where Scar and Zazu sing show tunes AND where Zazu is practically Scar's slave. That made me mad, too. One more thing, the part where the hyenas chase Simba, he can be seen sitting in a tiny space, not continuing to run like he is in the original.

Oh yeah-they also added a part where Nala sneaks away from Pride Rock to find help and Zazu tries to protect her. Another thing, Scar admitted to Sarabi she loved Mufasa over him and wanted her to be HIS queen! Unless I missed something in the original, that threw me for a damn loop! I don't know where in the hell they got that idea from! (If that was in the original, please tell me in the comments, because it's been a while since I've seen the original.)

I didn't realize THIS until a fellow friend pointed it out-some of the nighttime scenes in the original take place in the daytime instead. That threw me off. I'm not saying nighttime scenes have to be in there ALL the time. They just didn't make sense to me in the remake. Another thing that friend pointed out to me was that Simba was more willing to go back to Pride Rock. (I'm sure we ALL know how reluctant he was going back in the original.)

The movie overall: I don't know if it's a 2 1/2 or a 3 star movie for me. I DO know it's not a 5 star movie for sure. While I was happy to see familiar names in the remake, I DID feel disappointed with how they changed some of it up. If you know someone who wants to see the remake, talk them into seeing the original first. That's all I can say.

I hope you enjoyed this review. Until next time, guys! Love y'all! <3