The Early Reviews Of The Lion King Are Not Great

The new Lion King movie is the biggest cinema event of the year and it's out in cinemas around the world on Friday. This is great news.

What's not great is the reviews from film critics. We've scanned through a lot of them and overall, they're pretty meh. Everybody says the film looks amazing, but the consensus from the critics is that the new Lion King doesn't really add anything to the already perfect older movie.

Here are some sample reviews:

Donald Clarke in the Irish Times gave it two stars:

Scrunch your eyes up, put your hands over your ears and you could be watching an uncharacteristically boring nature documentary on the BBC.

Yet nobody has done anything worth doing to character or story.

The San Francisco Chronicle:

A film that is stunning to look at, even inspiring at times, but dramatically bizarre

The Globe and Mail:

There is plenty of wonder on offer in this Lion King, but little imagination.

The Slate:

Pairing off romantically to produce a legitimate heir to the throne is nice and all, but it's getting destroyed by the minions of your own venal ambition that's the real circle of life.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating is currently a middling 60%, with admittedly on 143 reviews. That's not great either way!

This viral clip contrasting Mufasa's death scene in both Lion King movies highlights the dramatic difference between the animated film and the live action film.

If you love the story and love the characters and love the songs, you'll likely love the new movie. But if you're on the fence, it seems like this new Lion King movie isn't for you.