Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of a group of misfits searching for their destiny.

My Take – I’m sure we don’t need to be reminded how The Lion King (1994) continues to be one of the most popular and highly-loved animated features from Disney. Something, which its frame-by-frame remake didn’t understand, offering a colorful and expensive CGI spectacle and basically nothing more. But since the film ended up grossing $1.657 billion on a $260 million budget, a follow up was pretty much guaranteed.

Serving as both a prequel and sequel, with thankfully no connection to the immensely forgettable direct-to-video follow-up title ‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ (1998), the film uses the same photo-realistic CGI techniques as the John Favreau directorial and tells the origin story of Mufasa, father of Simba and the character whose death was the core plot point of the original story.

And in the hands of director Barry Jenkins, the indie darling behind the triple Oscar-winning masterpiece Moonlight (2016), and the similarly lauded If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), the final film is a massive leap forward in terms of experience.

Mainly as the earlier problem of the lack of facial expression possessed by the somewhat taxidermy-looking animals from the 2019 film has been solved. Making one wish that only if screenplay hadn’t opted for the easiest path to tell its story, leaving us to witness a narrative that does not meet its full potential.

Written by Jeff Nathanson (Young Woman and the Sea), the script, though engaging, is derivative and simply recycles themes and devices from all over. And backed by forced character introductions and a lack of thoughtful cohesion, the execution ends up faltering.

Add to that the much-hyped songs composed the award-winning songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Enchanto), which end up being mostly average at best.

Nevertheless, despite numerous flaws, the prequel is still worth recommending as a decent option for family entertainment. It’s still a vivid, somewhat exciting spectacle, which tries, with mixed success, to navigate between eye-popping modern animation for the younger generation and nostalgic content for the older.

Beginning sometime after the events of the 2019 film, the story sees young lion cub Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) being left behind with Timon (voiced by Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (voiced by Seth Rogen) as Simba (voiced by Donald Glover) and Nala (voiced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) embark on a new journey. But despite assurances, Kiara worries about her parents, and to keep her distracted and engaged, Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) tells her the legendary story of her grandfather, Mufasa.

As a young cub Mufasa (voiced by Braelyn and Brielle Rankins) was forcefully separated from his parents by raging flood waters and ends up in a new land, where he is rescued by Taka (voiced by Theo Somolu), a lion prince-ling of noble birth, from the jaws of crocodiles. Lost and alone, Mufasa is immediately adopted by Eshe (voiced by Thandiwe Newton) as Taka’s brother.

However, not everyone is welcoming. Taka’s regal father, Obasi (voiced by Lennie James), the king of his domain and leader of the pride, considering him to be a stray, banishes Mufasa to live with the lionesses. Growing up, Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) enjoys the prestige of the male lions’ inner circle and learns little more than the art of taking daylong naps, while Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) learns to hunt and track.

And when the pride is threatened by a colonizing clan of albino big cats, led by the vengeful Kiros (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen), who is intent on the indiscriminate slaughter of all other lions, Obasi, in an effort to preserve his bloodline, orders Taka to flee, with Mufasa at his side, as his trusty protector. Believing that the fabled mythical lands of Milele is where they will be truly safe, the two brothers head in that assumed direction.

On their way they meet the lioness Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone), her horn-bill scout Zazu (voiced by Preston Nyman), and a wise young mandrill Rafiki (voiced by Kagiso Lediga), who’s been exiled from his community because of his premonitions. With the hateful white lions hot on their trail, the diverse and unlikely group end up embarking on an exciting and unforgettable adventure.

The film is at its strongest when director Jenkins follows this set of castaways. With some coming-of-age angst thrown in like Taka falling for Sarabi, which initially adds some lighthearted tension to the mix. But soon it begins to stumble. Perhaps because it could have benefited from losing a musical number or two, though the songs are mostly Miranda-branded toe-tappers.

With “Always Wanted a Brother“, the best of his compositions for the film’s soundtrack cementing the adoptive relationship. They genuinely come as interruptions to the flow of the narrative. Even the unbeatable Timon and Pumbaa, who are meant to lighten the mood and entertain, mostly annoyingly feel out of place in the story.

To make matters worse, the script lays out many of its big dramatic reveals way too early. Mufasa himself is a tragic character and inherently has great potential for expanding the arc, as he didn’t get much screen time in the original. However, here, one can’t help but think that a more interesting backstory could have been invented for him.

Though, Mufasa and Taka’s bond is the heart of the story, even the motives for the latter’s turn to the dark side are painfully generic. The film even hints at heavier themes such as colonialism. But ends up doing nothing much about it.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of visual majesty to distract from the shortcomings. As opposed to its predecessor, the animals actually have facial expressions, emoting with a naturalness that doesn’t play like something out of the uncanny valley. The details are rich, and so are the wide vistas of the lush grasslands and the snow capped mountains.

It also helps that Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Thandiwe Newton, Mads Mikkelsen, John Kani, Lennie James, Kagiso Lediga, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Preston Nyman, Donald Glover, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, TheoSomolu, Blue Ivy Carter, Braelyn and BrielleRankins dutifully do the necessary voice work. On the whole, ‘Mufasa: The Lion King‘ is a decent prequel story that manages to entertain visually despite not realizing its full potential narrative wise.