Mufasa: The Lion King

 

      The original "Lion King" was a wonderful film spawning sequels and a Broadway show. Did the world need a prequel? Probably not but Disney saw a cash grab for the holidays and went for it with a high-profile director, Barry Jenkins, a strong vocal cast and songs by Lin Manuel-Miranda.

       Does it work? I guess so but it's not as good as the original and the story told in flashbacks gets confusing at times. What is amazing is the photorealism animation. The visuals are just incredible.

       Since it's a prequel, screenwriter Jeff Nathanson needed a way to work favorite characters from the first film, Pumbaa and Timon into story. Having Rakiki tell the story of Mufasa to Kiara, Simba's daughter with both Pumbaa and Timon listening as well, was the best way to do it. Although the back and forth storytelling will definitely be confusing to smaller children. It does, however, give Pumbaa and Timon a chance to add all the adult humor to the film with some good one liners and self effacing jokes.

       As for Mufasa's story, he spends a great deal of time underwater for various reasons. He also grows up with Taka, who eventually feels betrayed and ends up as "Scar" from the original film. There is ongoing danger as the lions are stalked by a group of nasty white lions known as "The Outsiders", led by Kiros. It's pretty obvious that at some point Kiros will square off against Mufasa. In many scenes it's actually hard to tell the lions apart. A little girl next to me kept asking, "is that Mufasa?" pointing to various lions.

       The vocal talent includes Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka, John Kani as Rifiki, and Tiffany Boone as Sarabi, the lioness. Other high profile vocals include Seth Rogan as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, Donald Glover as Simba, Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros, Thandiwe Newton as Eshe, Beyonce as Nala, Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, Keith David as Masego and Lennie James as Obasi.

       Lin Manuel-Miranda's songs, lyrically are pleasant enough but musically sound like outtakes from "Hamilton". Nothing comes as close to "The Circle of Life" as memorable.

        The film is being shown in Imax, Imax 3-D, Real 3-D and Digital. Save your money and watch it at home with the kids on Disney +, where it will end up sooner than later.