Mufasa: The Lion King Review

The ‘live-action’ version of The Lion King was a huge hit for Disney, being the second highest-grossing film of 2019. This success led the studio to greenlight a prequel and hired acclaimed filmmaker Barry Jenkins to direct.

Mufasa (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) are about to have their second cub, and they had to learn for the ceremonial birthing grounds, leaving their daughter, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) behind at Pride Rock. During a thunderstorm, Rafiki (John Kani) calms Kiara down by telling her the story about her grandfather, Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), and how he led a group of refugees to find the legendary land called ‘Milele.’

The remake of The Lion King came out in a year when Disney dominated the box office. Seven of the ten highest-grossing films of 2019 were Disney productions and in 2010s many of Disney’s biggest hits were remakes of their animated classics. Disney thought they had an infinite money cheat, but the 2020s haven’t been so kind to the Disney remakes. Mulan was released as an add-on to Disney+ which led to a lot of controversy, Pinocchio received a critical kicking, and The Little Mermaid underwhelmed at the box office. Mufasa was beaten by Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on its opening weekend.

Mufasa did have some ambitions. Jenkins has a great reputation and he probably agreed to make the prequel as a quid pro quo deal, although he nearly rejected the offer. Also, Lin-Manuel Miranda was hired to write the new songs for the prequel, and he has had a good track record considering his previous work for Disney.

Mufasa was essentially a story of Moses told with lions. Mufasa was found in a river, taken in by a royal family, and gained a brother. However, this relationship soon becomes a rivalry, and Mufasa has to lead his followers to safety. Mufasa had all the ingredients to be a good film. There was a rags-to-riches story since Mufusa arrived in a strange land as an orphan and rose to a position of power and responsibility, a friendship turned to rivalry because of jealousy, and a leader needed to find a promised land. These ideas were used in films and shows like Watership Down, The Animals of Farthing Wood, and An American Tail.

Mufasa was also attempted to have a story about what makes a leader. Despite not being a noble lion, he learned important lessons from his leadership. Mufasa was forced to hunt with the females, so his adopted mother, Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), acted as one of his greatest teachers. Mufasa was the one who had to take the lead instead of Taka who was a wimp and the great lion wanted to rule by compassion and consensus instead of tyranny or deceit. It was an American ideal about leadership.

Despite these building blocks, Mufasa came across as a manufactured film. It was made because the previous film was profitable and the original Lion King was a beloved, animated classic. The prequel was produced because of Disney executives rather than artistic merit. This made the film comes across as laboured with its plotting and songs, which was disappointing considering Miranda’s involvement. The songs in Moana 2 were memorable.

I saw the film with my six-year-old nephew, and even though he said he enjoyed it I could tell he was bored because he was distracted, and the film couldn’t hold his attention. I also noticed numerous people leaving the film for the toilet. Children are meant to be the target audience for a film like this, but it failed to grab their attention sufficiently.

On the technical front, Mufasa looked impressive. The prequel kept the photorealistic look of the 2019 film, and some effort was made to make the animals more expressive. One criticism of The Lion King (2019) was that animals couldn’t emote, which made emotional scenes like Mufasa’s death less impactful.

Mufasa was a film that had some big ideas but couldn’t shake off its corporate-mandated origins. It ended up making a personally interesting story into a bland experience.