LIKE many who grew up with Disney’s animated movie The Lion King, I was sceptical about the realistic computer generated remake but I was pleasantly surprised, writes Kelsey Maxwell.

I had heard the mixed reviews of Jon Favreau’s remake, but I have to say sitting in Cineworld St Helens alongside my nan watching it, I enjoyed every minute.

It is very faithful to the 90s original, the storyline does not change, but rather looks very realistic, despite the fact of course that the animals are talking....but this is still Disney after all.

The songs were the same I grew up with, and it made me happy to hear the little voices singing along to the well known songs like the Circle Of Life, Hakuna Matata and Can You Feel The Love Tonight, with a couple of extra ones by Beyonce, whose voice stood out as Nala in the movie.

It was nostalgic, and realistic...maybe a little scarier for it, as I heard the gasps of young children behind me during the scenes which were a little iffy in the animated version such as the hyena chase and *spoiler* Mufasa’s death, but now in the hyper realistic version it definitely makes you think twice before taking really young children with you.

What I liked about this remake is exactly what people have criticised, the fact it is so faithful to the original yet shot beautifully in an almost National Geographic fashion which made it more appealing and I’m not going to lie, I really wanted my own Simba to take home afterwards.

Not sure how that would work but I think many adults and children alike probably felt the same.

This film is definitely worth a watch.