Weekend Movie Review: 'The Lion King,' And More

The highly anticipated remake of Disney's "The Lion King" hits theaters this weekend, starring Donald Glover as future King Simba and Beyoncé as his friend-turned-love-interest Nala.

Also making a debut this weekend is "The Art of Self-Defense," in which Jesse Eisenberg plays a non-confrontational, meek accountant who becomes determined to learn how to protect himself at all costs necessary, including taking martial arts lessons.

Here's what to see and what to skip this weekend:

Movies Out This Weekend

“The Lion King” — Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor; directed by Jon Favreau

Disney’s remake of the studio’s Oscar-winning 1994 animated classic comes from Jon Favreau’s immersive storytelling that blends live-action filmmaking techniques with photo-real computer-generated imagery. In other words, the new film is a photo-realistic drama, featuring the voices of Donald Glover as future King Simba, Beyoncé as his friend-turned-love-interest Nala, James Earl Jones as Simba’s father, Mufasa, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Simba’s villainous uncle Scar.

Following closely to the classic story, the Hamlet-inspired plot opens with a beat-by-beat re-creation of the original’s opening sequence celebrating the birth of Simba (Glover), a little cub destined to succeed his father, Mufasa (Jones), as heir to the leonine throne of the Pride Lands. Then, the well-known Shakespearean narrative begins in which Simba’s menacing uncle Scar (Ejiofor) plots to murder King Mufasa and Simba in order to steal the throne.

Soon enough, Mufasa dies leaving Simba on the run for his life. Years go by, and Simba grows up and gets reunited with his childhood friend Nala (Beyoncé). The rest is history as we all know it, including Simba’s friendship with the “Hakuna Matata” duo (Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner).

See it. Though the movie’s technological wizardry dwarfs the narrative every now and then, the photo-realistic remake, overall, still delivers some awesome family entertainment.

Watch the trailer:

“The Art of Self-Defense” — Jesse Eisenberg, Alessandro Nivola, Imogen Poots; directed by Riley Stearns

Jesse Eisenberg stars as Casey Davies, a meek accountant who avoids conflict, especially when his co-workers bully him and make him their laughingstock.

One night, when Casey leaves his home to buy dog food for his beloved pet, a gang of four helmeted motorcycle riders viciously attacks him rendering the bookkeeper unconscious on the ground. When he wakes up from his traumatic experience, he makes it his mission to learn how to defend himself at all costs necessary.

It is only a matter of time before Casey decides to take martial arts lessons, and karate expert Sensei (Alessandro Nivola) takes the young man under his wing. Soon, Casey will turn himself into an alpha male seething with pure aggression. And in due time, Casey will find himself colliding with his karate master Sensei— in a gigantic way!

See it. “The Art of Self-Defense” has a lot of comedic punches that deliver massive blows of laughter.

Watch the trailer:

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