The pre-title sequence of director Jon Favreau’s (Iron Man, Chef) photorealistic remake of Disney’s 1994 animated favorite The Lion King is admittedly extraordinary. In its full IMAX glory, this opening section depicting the birth of infant lion cub Simba on Pride Rock to parents Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones) and Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) and set to Elton John and Tim Rice’s Oscar-nominated “Circle of Life” is suitably eye-popping. It is immediately obvious that every penny of the film’s budget was put to use making sure all of the technological wizards tasked with making all of these creatures and environments look authentic did their respective jobs to perfection.

The story remains the same. Lion cub Simba (JD McCrary) is best friends with the inquisitive Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and learns about what it means to be a good king from his revered father Mufasa. Unbeknownst them all the monarch’s vindictive younger brother Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) conspires in the background to usurp his sibling’s throne. After engineering an accident that leads to tragedy, Scar convinces Simba to run away from home and never return, sending a pack of hungry hyenas after his nephew hoping they’ll eat the cub for dinner. But he escapes into the desert, and thanks to jokey pranksters Timon (Billy Eichner), a meerkat, and Pumba (Seth Rogen), a warthog, the youngster is taken to a beautiful oasis where he can grow into adulthood in safety.

Sometime later, an adult Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) discovers Simba’s (Donald Glover) secluded hideaway and implores him to return to his kingdom and take his rightful place upon the throne. Scar has allowed the hyenas to hunt their homeland to the brink of extinction, and she believes Mufasa’s son is the only one who could stand up against this tyrant and convince all of the lionesses to fight back before it is too late. Initially hesitant, Simba is reminded who he is and what he was taught as a child by his father by the wise baboon Rafiki (John Kani), and in the end decides to join Nala on her return to trip to Pride Rock.

What Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisors Robert Legato and Adam Valdez have crafted is nothing short of masterful. Both the animal characters (of which there are truly dozens upon dozens) and the sweeping African landscapes are so dazzlingly accurate, you sometimes have to remind yourself practically every single frame of this film has been crafted inside a computer. In a technical sense, The Lion King achieves visual splendours that set a new benchmark for what CGI can deliver. If only there were more here than just a spectacle for the eyes

Of course, this “live-action” (it’s not live-action by any means, but Disney seem insistent on calling it as such, so one must abide) reimagining offers our beloved animated animal cast as flawless and authentic photorealistic creations more akin to what we’d expect from a nature documentary. On a visual scale alone, The Lion King is indeed an extravaganza like few others in 2019.