The Lion King Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs

2. It's Sluggishly Paced

The new movie clocks in at a fairly hefty 118 minutes - that's an entire half-hour longer than the animation.

Though a slight uptick is expected owing to the movie's more realistic animation style, the end result is nevertheless a film with numerous notable pacing sags.

While 1994's original is pretty much a perfectly-paced movie, one dares to call the new film "boring" at several junctures, likely a result of not only a more laid-back, "relaxed" approach to the material, but also the aforementioned blank faces of the digital animals.

The irony, ultimately, is that many of the film's major dramatic beats feel rushed or underdeveloped, even with an extra 30 minutes to make everything click into place.