‘Lion’ roars with authenticity

(News4usonline) – The four-part mini-series “Lion,” shown on Disney+ and Hulu, has the sound and feel of a previous theatrical hit. Well, that’s because it does. Director Jon Favreau oversaw “The Lion King.” It’s no wonder that “Lion” has that nostalgic feel to it in its storytelling of a young lion cub who survived the wilds of Africa to become a leader of his own pride. 

If the story sounds familiar, it is. And it still works, although this lion’s pathway is a lot more perilous and more realistic because it’s based on a true story. The movie team behind “Lion” goes about four years in capturing the essence of the ride of a cub lion to being a young king. 

 The rise of Kio to top of the food chain of a lion pride is almost surreal or rather unbelievable considering the circumstances. Like anything in the wild, nothing is promised beyond the survivalist mindset that both predator and prey must have in order to live from hour to hour or rather minute to minute. 

At times, “Lion” comes across as a live-action fairytale only in this respect. The “Lion” team was careful not to bring a total gore show as it relates to moments in which animal violence became inevitable such as a cape buffalo being caught and shredded apart by a pride of lions. 

By not showing the ferocity of a carnivore taking apart its prey, what the director and his team does is kind of give the audience a nuanced, vanilla visual that allows you to roam wild with imagination of what really happened and what that event truly looked like. 

We get it. Then again, we don’t get it. There are superhero films that have more violence being shown on the screen. But aside from that little detail, “Lion” is well-done. 

The first episode starts off by introducing the audience to Summer and her sisters, Winter and Autumn, and the pride they run with three Alpha males being formally in charge. The beauty about “Lion” is that it encapsulates the totality of the African wildlife as it follows the trail of Kio, from cub to young lion to pride leader.  

Each episode brings its own challenges and outlooks while trying to bring continuity in the narration of Kio’s life. There’s a saying by a former wildlife hunter turned author 

about life’s delicacy in Africa and that anything in the wild can kill you. 

Like any good documentary, the storytelling works well here with “Lion.” The cinematic backdrop adds a drop of awesomeness that makes you want to book the quickest flight to Africa so you can go play with the “kitties.” 

The only problem with that logic is that these cats are not domesticated house cats. What you’ll encounter is far more sinister and deadly with an outcome that is all but decided in the way that you’re taken out and away from your loved ones. 

You can get trampled into marshmallow by a herd of angry cape buffalo. How about getting snapped into pieces by a gnarly hippo? We’re not even talking about possibly being ambushed by an elephant who just may not be in the best of moods to greet foreign guests. 

A warthog can take you out just as quickly as a King Cobra. Don’t get me started about the Nile River and its sworn allegiance to those monster-sized killer crocodiles. What “Lion” does is take the central part of its story and invites audiences into the world of Kio, while at the same time, broadening its scope. 

The film also allows people to see a well-detailed product that encompasses the totality of wildlife Africa at its best and most interesting. The one thing that makes “Lion” compelling is how Favreau and his team are able to get audiences to get intimate with the plot of the story. Yes, these are wild animals that “Lion” examines. 

However, the documentary flushes out what appears to be a mother’s angst as Summer cries out with no reply to see if Kio has survived a wild-raging stampede that a herd of cape buffalo decides to go on. 

When one of Summer’s sisters gets mortally wounded by a buffalo herd, a sense of heaviness comes over the lion pride with an almost humanistic touch. What “Lion” shows us is that both sorrow and joy are universal languages, a message that can be applied to both man and beast.     

To a fault, “Lion” almost relies too much on the breath of “The Lion King” and some of its heartfelt offerings. “Lion” doesn’t need all those bells and whistles to get its point across. Good storytelling says all that it needs to say.   

Lead Photo: Bathed in the warm morning sunshine, Kio and Summer sit together. Itìs Kio’s first time with the pride, and Summer remains close to guard him against any unpredictable behavior from the younger lions. (National Geographic/Sophie Darlington)