The Lion King (3 Stars)

I've been fascinated by this film for weeks. Every time I saw the trailer in the cinema I was amazed by the computer-generated beauty of the animals. This is a new generation of animated films, in which the animation is so realistic that it doesn't look like animation.

The film is about a young lion called Simba, the son of Mufasa, the king of the jungle. Musafa's brother Scar is jealous and attempts to kill both Mufasa and Simba. Mufasa dies, but Simba survives and goes into exile, because he blames himself for his father's death.

When I watched the film today I was immediately enthralled by the imagery, but within half an hour I found myself getting bored. The problem was the lack of skill of the voice actors, with the possible exception of Seth Rogen as the warthog Pumbaa. There was no passion in the voices. It's as if they were just reading their lines from a book. Many of the voice actors are talented actors and actresses in their own right, but they were unable to breathe life into the animated characters. I don't know if the problem is in the casting or the rehearsing. Maybe the actors would have been better if they'd had more time to practise their lines. Maybe they should just have been replaced.