Rating: 2.5/5
Synopsis:
Due to the success of 2019’s “The Lion King” remake, we now get an origin story for Mufasa. We begin his story as a young cub who is separated from his family. He meets another lion cub named Taka, who is slated to be the next king of his pride. After a group of predatory white lions ambushes their land, Mufasa and Taka are forced to go on a journey to find a new home and continue the bloodline. What follows is a story of survival, love, and betrayal.
Positives:
Much like the 2019 film, the visual effects will be the main reason to see the film. The same attention to detail and visual splendor are evident. We can see the hair on the animals blowing in the wind and the physical attributes that distinguish them from one another. I saw the film in IMAX but there were a handful of sequences that were noticeably formatted for 3D. I’m sure the detail would have been enhanced had I chosen that format. An improvement from the previous film is that the expressions of the animals are more prominent with the characters. When they are happy, sad, or concerned, their expressions reflect that. I remember how it felt like blank animal faces mouthing dialogue in the previous film so credit to the VFX team for making this improvement.
At least with “Mufasa”, we get a fresh story. 2019’s live action remake was essentially a shot for shot remake with nice visual effects. This story expands the lore behind the “Lion King” franchise and gives audiences a new adventure with these characters. I liked the format of telling Kiara (Simba’s daughter) the story of her grandfather, a nice way to give the classic characters some screen time while doing something different. The story gives some insight into Pride Rock and the circle of life. We also get to see how Mufasa and Sarabi met, tying into Scar’s downfall and his angst against Mufasa. Getting to see how the characters came together and formed the animal kingdom was a satisfying explanation of Mufasa’s leadership skills and good natured demeanor. I can also sympathize with Scar and how he felt betrayed considering he did have some redeeming qualities. But we still understand his villainous tendencies. With a combination of great visual effects and a fresh story, “Mufasa: The Lion King” manages to give audiences something new.
Negatives:
For as much right as “Mufasa” gets right, there are a handful of glaring issues that hamper the film immensely. The script is surprisingly poor. Throughout the film, the characters engage in some unusually clunky dialogue that doesn’t sound organic to how most people would have a conversation. As certain discussions happened, I sat in my seat perplexed as to how the script wasn’t reworked before filming. On top of some strange dialogue, the voice acting was also hit and miss. I’ll give the 2019 film the advantage of selecting better voice actors. Unfortunately this story has a number of miscast voices that don’t resemble the personalities of the characters at all. The casting that made the least sense was Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka (Scar). His performance didn’t convey the cunning nature or ambitious planning that Scar has. Jeremy Irons set a high bar with the character so this was disappointing. Luckily, Aaron Pierre does a nice job as a younger Mufasa. The voice cast isn’t helped by the music either. Lin-Manuel Miranda presents his most underwhelming series of songs yet. None of them were very catchy and some were downright unpleasant.
But the most frustrating aspect of the story was the way it was paced. It’s clear director Barry Jenkins had some great ideas he wanted to include in the story but the studio mandated a runtime under two hours. Either Jenkins should have made some cuts or the studio should have allowed an additional twenty minutes (or both). Because the story’s execution feels clunky, rushed, and unsatisfying. There are conflicts and conversations that require more deliberation and discussion, but are resolved in a matter of seconds to move the plot along. It was impossible to suspend my disbelief that plot details like this could be resolved so quickly. This also makes the story feel extremely rushed. With all the ideas the story tackles, there was enough material to split this into two films. At least the flow of the story would have made more sense and each character’s development would have felt earned. Scar’s downfall felt particularly unsatisfactory. It’s a bummer that the story crammed too much into a film that is too short.
Conclusion:
“Mufasa: The Lion King” is a mixed bag overall. While it demonstrates some undeniable skill in the visual effects department, the story itself should have been better. The ingredients to an awesome “Lion King” story were there but it seems that director Barry Jenkins and Disney got caught between a rock and a hard place, clashing on ideas and the correct format of the story. The music is also forgettable, which is especially disappointing for a franchise as famous as this one. There might be enough fun to be had during the holiday season, but I can’t help but feel disappointed with the resources Disney has to make this film a hit. I’d say the feeling will be the same about 2019’s film. If that one was enjoyable, this one will be too. If not, go ahead and skip it.
