Mufasa: The Lion King – Film Review
I was firmly of the mindset that the 2019 remake of The Lion King didn’t need a prequel or sequel. However, I had to give this the benefit of the doubt because of Barry Jenkins being the director. Mufasa: The Lion King is better than the remake but I still had issues with it.
The film begins as a sequel, with Rafiki (voiced by John Kani), Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) looking after Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) while her parents Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyonce) go away to have another baby. While they’re cub-sitting, Rafiki tells Kiara the story of her granddaughter Mufasa. The narrative then switches back and forth between this storytelling sequence and extended flashbacks of Mufasa’s past.
As a massive fan of The Lion King (understatement), I liked how this expanded the story I know and love. I enjoyed finding out how Mufasa (now voiced by Aaron Pierre) met his “brother” Taka/Scar (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), his future wife Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), her loyal assistant Zazu (Preston Nyman) and Rafiki. Also, this reveals how Mufasa became king and why Scar hates him so much, among plot threads. I rewatched The Lion King after this and it enriched the experience, having this newfound backstory.
This film works better when it’s doing its own thing but it follows the structure of Simba’s story too closely, to the point where I wondered if it was simply retelling The Lion King again with some superficial differences. That didn’t completely happen but many scenes felt like redos of the original but in a different location or with a new song. There were too many parallels, references and repeats of the phrases “the circle of life” and “he lives in you”. You’d think I’d appreciate all this fan service but it actually annoyed me. I felt like I was being repeatedly hit over the head with “This is how similar Mufasa and Simba’s stories are”. Mufasa’s story stood up on its own and didn’t need all those unnecessary callbacks.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has worked his lyrical magic many times before but his songs didn’t stand out for me here. I enjoyed We Go Together, which he co-wrote with original 1994 songwriter Lebo M, and it was amusing to hear Mads Mikkelsen‘s villain song, Bye Bye, but they weren’t super memorable. The tracks were never going to reach the heights of classics like Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata (by Elton John and Tim Rice) but it’s still disappointing. However, Hans Zimmer‘s moving original score – which somehow has a direct line to my tear ducts – is used so often that I was basically crying on and off throughout the whole film.
This movie is visually astounding and so photorealistic that you sometimes forget you’re watching a CGI animation. Jon Favreau, the previous director, wanted it to look so realistic that he didn’t let the animals emote. I’m grateful Jenkins corrected this because it allowed you to feel for them and become more emotionally invested in the story.
There are so many voice actors that I can’t mention them all. However, Pierre deserves the biggest shout-out for convincingly sounding like a younger James Earl Jones (RIP). He’s not making an impression but the depth and tone of his voice work perfectly. Mikkelsen always makes for a great villain and Kiros is no exception while Eichner and Rogen are hilarious and rather meta as Timon and Pumbaa, who have significantly less to do this time.
When it’s not heavy-handedly referencing its predecessor, Mufasa: The Lion King is an entertaining and visually remarkable film. I enjoyed this more than the remake, for sure.
In cinemas from Friday 20th December and on Disney+ from Wednesday 26th March
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
