‘Mufasa: The Lion King’: Review

Dir: Barry Jenkins. US. 2024. 118mins

Disney’s 1994 animated blockbuster The Lion King was a basic hero’s journey, following Simba, a younger lion who should avenge his fallen father, the clever, noble king Mufasa. The studio’s equally commercially profitable “live-action” 2019 remake — which integrated photorealistic animation to lend a lifelike texture to those wild animals — adopted in its predecessors’ narrative pawprints, so it ought to be little shock that the brand new prequel is a comparably mythic story.

Jenkins’ most mainstream work — and, additionally, his most impersonal

In Mufasa, director Barry Jenkins explores Mufasa’s adolescence, when he befriends a fellow lion who will ultimately grow to be his mortal enemy. The CG pictures nonetheless impress, and there are gripping moments through the movie’s second half because the insecure Mufasa embraces his future. However like too many origin tales, Mufasa typically rehashes what was as soon as stirring about this materials.

Opening within the UK and US on December 20, the prequel might be a large vacation hit, though it faces stiff competitors from Sonic The Hedgehog 3. The 2019 Lion King grossed a whopping $1.7 billion, however that remake was based mostly instantly on the favored authentic. By comparability, though Mufasa boasts authentic songs from Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda, this new instalment will take a look at audiences’ curiosity in an prolonged Lion King cinematic universe. (Maybe to assuage viewers’ considerations, the filmmakers have made positive to incorporate the perennially wisecracking duo Timon and Pumbaa.)

Lovable mandrill Rafiki (John Kani) explains to Simba’s daughter Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) how her late grandfather Mufasa earned his crown. By way of prolonged flashbacks, we watch the younger lion (Aaron Pierre) grow to be separated from his dad and mom throughout a horrible flood, discovering his approach to a brand new satisfaction, the place he turns into a brother of kinds to Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the easygoing son of king Obasi (Lennie James).

Mufasa and Taka quickly develop shut, though they are going to be threatened by a rival satisfaction, led by the vicious Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), who needs to rule the African plain.

Jenkins reunites with a number of longtime collaborators — together with editor Joi McMillon and cinematographer James Laxton — however Mufasa lacks the distinctive qualities that marked his acclaimed indies Moonlight and If Beale Avenue Might Discuss. Certainly, the prequel carefully copies the photorealistic aesthetic of the 2019 Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau, leading to Jenkins’ most mainstream work — and, additionally, his most impersonal. 

The movie’s early reels are particularly wobbly, with Billy Eichner’s Timon and Seth Rogen’s Pumbaa (reprising their roles from the 2019 image) providing pseudo-hip commentary on Rafiki’s story, which quantities to irritating pop-culture riffing and snarky asides. As well as, whereas Mufasa’s cutting-edge animation stays hanging, the plot struggles to achieve dramatic momentum. Most viewers know that Mufasa and Taka’s shut bond will sever — and that Taka will grow to be Mufasa’s nemesis Scar, who kills him in The Lion King — however the preliminary phases of their friendship aren’t deftly dealt with, leaving audiences stressed.

The Lion King’s award-winning songs, written by Elton John and Tim Rice, set a excessive bar for Miranda, whose percussive, intelligent tunes are solely sporadically memorable. ’I All the time Wished A Brother’, meant to cement Mufasa and Taka’s connection, has an pleasing melody, whereas ’Brother Betrayed’ digs into Taka’s later envy of Mufasa, who woos an alluring lioness, Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), whom Taka additionally loves. However the songs by no means rise past an agreeable professionalism, whereas Dave Metzger’s rating is often invitingly darkish, underlining the life-or-death actuality of animals preventing for survival on the savanna.

Predictably, Mufasa repeatedly inserts callbacks to the 1994 and 2019 movies. This fan service proves tiresome, however the image does spring to life as soon as Mufasa and Taka go in the hunt for a mystical eden often called Milele whereas attempting to remain a step forward of the warlike Kiros. Within the course of, Mufasa jettisons its jokey tone, ratcheting up the stress to inform a extra grownup saga of affection, betrayal and violence. And there’s no denying the primal energy of watching Mufasa and Taka — as soon as the perfect of associates — begin down the fateful path that may flip them into foes.

Consequently, Harrison offers the perfect efficiency, his candy Taka finally consumed by jealousy and rage. However what by no means comes throughout is a way that younger Mufasa is destined to grow to be the fabled ruler. James Earl Jones portrayed Mufasa within the earlier motion pictures, immediately lending the character a regal grandeur, and the actor’s current passing is a reminder of simply how daunting a process it’s to attempt to depict Mufasa’s early days. Pierre imbues our reluctant hero with sensitivity and a rising braveness as he evolves from cub to king, however he doesn’t possess Jones’ booming voice or the late actor’s gravitas. Mufasa tells Mufasa’s origin story, however his essence is far tougher to conjure.