Disney has made a killing off live action films that have proceeded their animated classics. The Lion King live-action remake made over one and half billion, Beauty and the Beast made a billion and a quarter, Little Mermaid, over half a billion. The only one to really not work was probably Cruella which barely got to 200 million worldwide but even that was due mostly to that horrible pandemic. We got one coming for Snow White which is sure to make Little Mermaid numbers if not higher. So it was only natural that since Lion King did such gangbuster business, they would try their hats at a sequel, err I mean a prequel. That’s right, we get the story of Mufasa in Mufasa: The Lion King. Let’s take a look.
Where to start, let’s see any epic story deserves a James Earl Jones monologue. May he rest in peace. In present day, Simba (voiced by Donald Glover) and Nala (voiced by Beyonce Knowles-Carter) are about to have another cub. As they leave in search of an oasis, their first cub, Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) is left alone but tended to by the duo of Timon (voiced by Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (voiced by Seth Rogen). Soon it becomes a dark and stormy night and that’s when Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) decides to show up to tell a story. But this isn’t any story, it’s the story of Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre), Kiara’s grandfather and how he rose to be in charge of the Pride Lands. The three settle back and listen to the elder monkey spin quite a tale.
Mufasa (cub version voiced by Braelyn and Brielle Rankins) grows up around his parents, Masego (voiced by Keith David) and Afia (voiced by Anika Noni Rose). Life is tough for the lions who are constantly on the search for food, water and the mythical Milele, where better opportunities await the pride. Soon they are able to find a source of water, but too much water brings about a flood. That flood soon sweeps away Mufasa to an unknown land. When he washes up, he is immediately met by another cub named Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr). Taka is actually a prince and heir to the throne of King Obasi (voiced by Lennie James). The two instantly take to each other as friends but that budding friendship is soon broken up by some nasty crocodiles.
Taka’s mother, Queen Eshe (voiced by Thandiwe Newton) eventually comes to the aid of the two young cubs. Reluctantly, she is able to accept Mufasa into the pride but not before King Obasi has his say against any foreign lions. Instead, Mufasa is banished of sorts to only be with the females where he learns how to hunt. As the two grow up, Taka and Mufasa, grow up as best friends even though they have very different paths in life. Taka is being groomed to be the next King of the Pride and Mufasa spends his time finding the pride their next meal. One day while Mufasa and Eshe are hunting, they come upon two vicious white lions. Mufasa is able to take out one of these lions while the other is able to run back to their pride. That pride is known as the Outsiders and are lead by the diabolical Kiros (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen).
In the midst of this attack on Eshe and Mufasa, we learn that Taka was in the shadows but too scared to help out his best friend as well as his mother. Soon, Kiros and the rest of the Outsiders (all white lions) plan a deadly attack against Obasi’s pride. It goes horribly for Obasi and Eshe and the rest of the pride. The only two lions that are able to escape the Outsiders’ vengeance are Mufasa and Taka. They take to the river and when they wash up on land, they run into a female lion named Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone) and a bird named Zazu (voiced by Preston Nyman). The four of them take off on an adventure to get to Miele. But the Outsiders do not leave anyone alive and are tracking the young group across the savannah to claim their dominance.
I will give Mufasa: The Lion King one thing, they certainly know how to set an epic tale. The story is interesting and it mostly works in setting us up for how Mufasa came to be the king of the Pride Lands. But admittedly the most interesting tale is the growth of Taka and who exactly he will come to be that carries the story. Thankfully, I had stayed away from spoilers that most reviewers and even Disney themselves put out there but most viewers will be able to figure it out about half way into the film. With that aside, the animation is spectacular and beyond life like. It is truly a credit to those who worked on the film in putting this together.
However, I would argue how many darn characters does one film need? There are so many that the film gets caught up in its own grandness. I know this is a musical but I could also do with less musical numbers. At the very least, I don’t want to ever hear I Always Wanted a Brother again. When you have to have one song listed as Listen to My Voice, you know that they are struggling to keep people interested. As a teenager, when I saw Aladdin & Beauty and the Beast and other Disney favorites, I paid attention to the musical numbers. Here they are nothing but forgettable. Between the musical numbers and the interludes, one really has to question how much story there actually is (or there could be).
Mufasa: The Lion King is one of those films that has never “owned” the box office but stuck around long enough with the Disney moniker and word of mouth to amass quite a haul in receipts. It opened right before Christmas and to date near three months later has amassed ~$250 million domestically and over ~$700 million worldwide. Heck through 12 weeks in the box office, it has never left the top ten, outpacing other family friendly movies such as Dog Man, Paddington in Peru and even Sonic 3. At the particular movie theater I went to, it got a standing ovation. Admittedly, I mostly groaned at such a gesture but there is no denying that many people did enjoy this film. Even more people will eventually find it on physical release as well as streaming and come to the same satisfying conclusion.
From a personal view, this would be better deserved with far fewer musical numbers and less runtime (about 10-15 minutes). The wealth of characters paraded out during the film tend to run together if they fall outside of Mufasa, Taka, Sarabi, and Rafiki and I would even argue Mufasa and Taka are the only ones with any depth. One of the things that made the original animated Lion King (as well as Lion King 1 and a 1/2) so darn entertaining was the humor. That humor is practically gone and even when it appears, it feels somewhat forced. Timon and Pumbaa, the only real source of humor serve barely as interludes, appearing only to tell Rafiki that he has lost his mind and can’t tell the story correctly. Based on the way Timon looks at this point, it might tell you how dead the laughs actually are. Anyhow, my son and my wife seemed to like this a little better than I did, but nevertheless it is telling that my son hasn’t mentioned it since (unlike the other three films I’ve mentioned in the above paragraph). With that said, hopefully you can enjoy.
| Overall: |  (6 / 10) |
