‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Review: Another Failed Live Action Attempt

Yet again, Disney has released a tired live-action film made exciting by the fact Barry Jenkins is directing, but he can not really save an unnecessary prequel to a beloved classic. Read our Mufasa: The Lion King review below.

Barry Jenkins has made a name for himself in Hollywood with the success of Academy Award Winning Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. Jenkins took a quick left turn from his usual character-driven indie films to tackle a prequel to the 2019 The Lion King. The film illustrates the orphaned Mufasa’s journey to becoming the Lion King. The central relationship in the movie is the one between Mufasa and Taka, who despite condemnation from Taka’s father, see each other as the brothers they always wanted. 

The story is lacking and does not give a clear reason as to why the film was made. Mufasa’s rise to King is formulaic and does not take any risks that make the film stick out. My main problem with the story is the reason they give for the rift that inevitably forms between Mufasa and Taka. It is childish, uninspired, and honestly disgraceful to the original 1994 film. It ignores all nuance. I do not think the story is a total failure, yet it just falls into the category of unfeeling films that leave no impression after the credits roll. 

I believe the film is a step up from Jon Favreau’s The Lion King. Most audiences’ complaint with the 2019 film is that the characters had no emotions and the CGI left the film looking stale. Mufasa, on the other hand, gave the characters more interesting reactions. You can get a deeper understanding of how the characters are feeling just by their faces, which I found very refreshing. It is only a testament to how much CGI has improved in only five years. Overall, the film is visually interesting. It seemed to beat the constant grey, muddle visuals of recent live action Disney films for the majority of its runtime. I also found that some of the camera movements, at least, felt like they were trying to do something unique. To me, it felt that an effort was put into the look of the film which did not go unnoticed. 

Another intriguing aspect of the film was the inclusion of original songs done by Lin Manuel Miranda. The Hamilton writer has been a big hit for Disney, writing notable songs for films like Ecanto and Moana. This time around, I have to say this was a miss. Unfortunately, I could not even hum a melody from one of the songs. The two songs that stick out among the few are “Tell Me It’s You” and “I Always Wanted a Brother.” However, neither of these songs hold a candle to the original soundtrack. The main problem with the music is that none of the songs are bad in form, yet they do not leave any lasting impact on the audience. I would even go as far to say that some of the songs brought the film to a halt. It felt like the film would be getting into something interesting narratively, and then dive into a generic song— this, coming from a big fan of most musicals. 

The main problem with the film is that it is another example of how a big corporation, in this case Disney, can take a proven genius director and squeeze them dry of any individuality. This film does not feel like a Barry Jenkins film. Instead it seems directionless, like it could have been made by any director working today. It, honestly, is very discouraging because the only aspect of the film that movie goers seemed to be excited by was the fact that it was being done by Jenkins. I am not entirely blaming the studio, because it seems that Jenkins agrees that this type of film is not for him. In a recent interview, Jenkins alluded to the fact that big CGI blockbusters might just not be for him, which I could not agree with more. 

At the end of the day, not even acclaimed director Barry Jenkins could save an altogether uninspired and forgettable story that does not do justice to the original characters. I was glad to see that there was an improvement, but I think that most audiences can agree that Disney should leave the story of The Lion King off to rest. I think with the new box office results of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 overthrowing Mufasa as number one movie in the world, Disney will hopefully see that they are not invincible and that audiences are not just gonna see a Disney movie for the name anymore.

Mufasa: The Lion King is available in theaters worldwide and will most likely drop on Disney+ some time next year. The film stars Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Thandiwe Newton and more.

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