10 Live-Action Remakes We Kind Of Loved

Live-action remakes have become Hollywood’s favourite party trick — flashy, familiar, and usually flat. When we hear the words “live-action remake”, our gut reaction is just something between a sigh and a cringe. And fair enough.

For every halfway-decent reinterpretation, there’s a soulless, CGI-smothered nostalgia grab waiting to sucker-punch your childhood. The Lion King remake somehow made photorealistic animals feel emotionally inert. Beauty and the Beast gave us a stiff, over-autotuned Belle and a cursed castle that looked like a VFX intern’s unfinished side project. And don’t even get us started on Alice in Wonderland, a fever dream with zero charm and too much eyeliner.

It’s no wonder live-action remakes have become the cinematic equivalent of reheated leftovers—they're technically fine, but would I enjoy it? No.

But every once in a while, one comes along that actually gets it right. A remake that doesn’t just recycle the original frame-for-frame but reimagines it with fresh perspective, sharper writing, and better world-building. So, here are a few that we actually truly enjoyed.

The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book (2016)Letteboxd

Let’s call it what it is — The Jungle Book is one of the only Disney remakes that actually improves on the original. Favreau actually pulled off the impossible and made The Jungle Book feel fresh. It’s one of the few remakes that doesn’t just coast on nostalgia but builds something new from it. The animal VFX were ahead of their time, the casting was dead-on (Idris Elba as Shere Khan? Come on), and Neel Sethi’s Mowgli is earnest and easy. The immersive CGI jungle actually somehow felt more alive than most blockbusters. Sure, it lacks some emotional weight, but it’s slick and cinematic.

Cruella (2021)

Nobody asked for a Cruella de Vil origin story — and maybe that’s exactly why it works. It’s chaotic, stylish, over-the-top nonsense with two knockout Emmas (Stone and Thompson) duelling in a couture-fueled revenge plot set in ‘70s punk-era London. It plays like The Devil Wears Prada meets The Favourite, with enough camp and costume drama to distract you from the fact that it doesn’t totally know what it’s doing. Still, it’s fun as hell.

Pete’s Dragon (2016)

Pete’s Dragon (2016)D23

No one asked for this remake but David Lowery took a forgettable ‘70s musical and turned it into a warm, aching, low-fi family drama about loss, and connection. It’s intimate, warm, and surprisingly moving, anchored by a fantastic performance from Oakes Fegley and one very huggable CGI dragon. It’s the closest Disney’s gotten to making an A24 kids’ movie — and that’s not a bad thing. No songs, no gimmicks, just a beautifully told story.

101 Dalmatians (1996)

101 Dalmatians (1996)Reddit

101 Dalmatians lives and dies by the sheer manic genius of Glenn Close. Her Cruella is pure theatre: terrifying, hilarious, and impossible to look away from. The rest of the film is a harmless slapstick and beige romance. But Close vamps so hard you forget how silly the plot is. High-camp Disney at its best — no CGI dogs, just a villain so good they gave her two movies.

Cinderella (2015)

There’s something refreshing about a remake that doesn’t try to be “edgy” or self-aware. Kenneth Branagh plays it straight — and it works. The 2015 Cinderella is lavish, romantic, and gorgeously designed, anchored by Lily James’ luminous performance and Cate Blanchett’s ice-cold villainy. Instead of rewriting the fairy tale, it simply refines it — adding nuance, a few character tweaks, and the kind of production design that is gorgeous. It’s old-school Disney storytelling with just enough modern edge — no gritty reboot.

Dumbo (2019)

Tim Burton’s Dumbo isn’t interested in nostalgia. It scraps most of the original and turns the story into a surprisingly dark anti-capitalist parable. It’s messy, sure, but it’s also weirdly beautiful. The human cast — Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton — leans into the absurdity, and the CGI elephant is an actual scene-stealer. It doesn’t soar like it should, but it has moments of unexpected emotional clarity that stick with you longer than you’d think.

Maleficent (2014)

The first time Disney tried to flip the script and tell the villain’s side — and, to their credit, it worked better than expected. Jolie’s performance carries the whole film; without her, there’s nothing to latch onto. It’s murky and inconsistent, but it was one of the first times Disney actively challenged its own legacy of flat female villains. It’s Disney going off-script for once, and for that alone, it deserves credit.

How To Train Your Dragon (2025)

Yes, it’s brand new. Yes, it could’ve been a disaster. But the How To Train Your Dragon live-action remake threads the needle — staying faithful to the original while adding texture and realism that actually elevates it. The Isle of Berk looks stunning, the dragon flights feel visceral, and somehow, the emotion still lands. It’s not reinventing anything — just enhancing what already worked. And honestly? That’s all we ever wanted.

Christopher Robin (2018)

It’s technically not a remake but we also don’t care. This movies takes the melancholy of Winnie the Pooh and makes it into an adult meditation on burnout and nostalgia. It makes you want to reconnect with your inner child. Ewan McGregor carries the weight of the weary grown-up perfectly and the CG Pooh is sweet and endearing. The movie is like a warm cup of tea after a bad day – sincere and simple.

Mulan (2020)

Stripped of its songs, Mushu, and the campy fun of the original, the live-action Mulan chooses a more grounded, action-heavy tone — and for the most part, it works. The visuals are slick, the score cleverly nods to the animated version, and the addition of Xianniang — a witch with a shared sense of outsider-ness — adds some much-needed complexity. It’s not perfect (dialogue is clunky, and the magic system is muddled), but it’s good enough.