With Black Is King, a strikingly vibrant & hypnotic performance art party, Beyonce solidifies that she has more in common with classical artists than modern pop stars. Continuing in the vein of her recent visual albums, she offers another stark celebration of black excellence, this time appropriate for & even directed at kids. If this required the abominable Lion King remake in order for it to be birthed into existence, it's shockingly very much worth it.

Picturesque, artistic, musical, beautiful, seductive, provocative. This film was a lot of things-a movie wasn't one of them. It's more or less a string of music videos interspersed with dialogue from "The Lion King." I think if you view this piece as you would view a painting-a work of art consisting of images and colors that are in harmony and/or contrast with one another-then you can appreciate it a lot. As a display of Black and African beauty it was fantastic. It could be said that it's a little self-serving for Beyonce, but I won't question her motives or intentions. It's a film I can watch once and appreciate, but it's not something I'd repeatedly watch.

Black is King is mildly enjoyable for its entire duration, but it's not investing in the slightest. Great cinematography doesn't necessarily make a great movie.