Written by Nikhita Kumar
Mufasa: The Lion King opened in theaters this December. While live-action remakes of beloved animations have become all too common for Disney, including 2019’s remake of the original The Lion King, Mufasa is an original story that adds something new to the established world. The question is, is Mufasa actually worth the watch?
The answer is yes, somewhat. Mufasa is told through a series of flashbacks narrated by Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) to Simba’s daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) and beloved comic duo Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, respectively). Rafiki tells the story of Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and his ascent from lost cub to fierce king of the Pride Lands. Beloved characters such as Zazu (Preston Nyman), Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), and Rafiki (whose younger version is voiced by Kagiso Lediga) are expanded upon in this prequel.
Mufasa does well in some aspects—particularly when portraying the complex relationship between brothers Scar and Mufasa. While audiences all know about Scar’s iconic betrayal of Mufasa in The Lion King, the story of how exactly the two brothers got to that point was unknown. The film does a great job of investing the audience in Mufasa and Taka/Scar’s story. The once-strong bond between the two brothers is believably portrayed, with lots of endearing and humorous scenes between Mufasa and Taka. The audience really feels for their relationship, making the fate of their relationship in The Lion King all the more tragic.
Mufasa also impresses in its visuals. While CGI can be a difficult tool to use effectively, the visuals in Mufasa are beautiful and incredibly photorealistic. The rich details of the grassy savannah and the stunning natural elements of the Pride Lands are conveyed beautifully. The CGI is still used to create some more cartoony elements, as the characters are made incredibly expressive. While this helps audiences better understand the characters’ emotions, the unusual gestures and facial movements of these hyper realistic animals can be a bit uncanny. This uncanny feeling is avoided in the original animated The Lion King, where the animal characters can be as expressive as needed without looking strange. While nothing beats good old cartoon animation, visually, Mufasa does a fine job regardless.
However, the film has many weaknesses that keep it from being great. The momentum of the Mufasa-centric plotline is continuously interrupted by cuts to present-day commentary by Timon and Pumbaa. While these characters are endearing, their moments come across as forced and unneeded—disturbing the audience’s immersion in Mufasa’s story. Intense, dramatic scenes lose their edge when the film cuts to a present-day gag.
The resulting choppy flow especially hurts Mufasa because of its simple storyline. Simple storylines are not bad by themselves—many great movies feature simple plots. Great execution of a simple storyline pushes it from basic to iconic. But Mufasa sadly misses the mark. Vengeful villain Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) is cold and intimidating, but feels unmemorable as an antagonist. The audience learns nothing substantial about the character’s motivations, leading the main conflict to feel weak and unoriginal. Even the compelling relationship between Mufasa and Taka—the definite highlight of the film—falls short of its potential. The moment that drives a wedge in their relationship feels cliché and contrived. Viewers are left feeling as though Mufasa could have done more for its characters and storyline.
The soundtrack, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda is good, yet still pales in comparison to that of the original animated film. The playful, upbeat song “I’ve Always Wanted a Brother” is cute and a sure earworm. The soulful, romantic number “Tell Me It’s You” sung between he and Sarabi is stirring and pleasant to the ears. However, Kiros’s villainous number “Bye Bye,” while fun, underwhelms in comparison to other celebrated Disney villain songs. The audio mixing of the songs also left something to be desired—there were moments when the instrumentals were loud to the point of the lyrics being indecipherable.
While Mufasa is compelling in its portrayal of Mufasa and Scar’s relationship, it falters in many other aspects. The final film is simply okay—filled with some interesting moments in a sea of average ones. It’s worth one watch, but is nothing compared to its predecessors.
