Mufasa (voiced by Braelyn Rankins) in Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King. ” Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
“Mufasa: The Lion King,” hitting theaters Dec. 20, represents Disney’s newest adventure into the watering hole of the live-action canon. Of course, “live action” in this case is a misnomer, as every blade of grass or strand of hair on screen comes to life with stunning photorealistic CGI.
But even with a filmmaker as talented as Barry Jenkins in charge, what transpires feels like a waste of his time and energy, since the storyline is so generic as to become tiring.
Mufasa (voiced by Braelyn Rankins) in Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King. ” Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
When Jon Favreau brought the world to the 2019 edition of Disney’s animated film “The Lion King,” he did so with gusto, and Beyoncé’s musical stylings added to the strength of the original score.
But here’s the question: Did anyone really want to be informed of how Pride Rock got here or why everyone calls Scar “Scar” but still the reason is apparent? As with other prequels, the movie at the end lays out a list exhausting callbacks and winks that can’t paper over the cracks in a completely predictable story. And not just because you know how it ends, and you never worry about the other people involved, since we’ve all noticed the next chapter.
Even the music, this time provided by “Hamilton” genius Lin-Manuel Miranda (who was so effective on “Moana”), is far from exciting.
(From left to right) Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) and Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr. ) in Disney’s live-action film “Mufasa: The Lion King. “Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Perhaps the biggest issue for the new movie lies in Jeff Nathanson’s script. You can practically fill in a bingo card when it comes to references to the original, and if you’re keeping count of every time someone says “everything the light touches” you’d fill two sides of A4 paper. It’s prequelitis at its worst.
The story of how Mufasa lost his own family but discovered another one (and then largely lost that) all while seeking a promised land where everything will be better is so basic as to be laughable in places.
(Left to right) Pumbaa (voiced by Seth Rogen) and Timon (voiced by Billy Eichner) in Disney’s live-action film “Mufasa: The Lion King. ” Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
There are still some positives to discover: the moments interspersed with Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki, and Kiara (Simba and Nala’s daughter) are at least more entertaining and make the franchise as a whole laugh.
Jenkins is a well-rounded and proven director, yet the demands of generation and the integration of his soul into the shaved-edged circular hole of Disney at its most rudimentary is rarely a scenario that works for either of them.
The adoptive siblings of Taka (soon to be known as Scar) and Mufasa are in the spotlight, though other roles will have to be considered as well.
Aaron Stone as Mufasa
Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) in Disney’s live-action film “Mufasa: The Lion King”. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Pierre, so this year in “Rebel Ridge” and before in Jenkins’ television series “The Underground Railroad,” does what he can with the role and brings young Mufasa to life with intensity and emotion.
He may not be James Earl Jones (the mythical original voice of Mufasa, who offers a warm homage to the beginning of the film), but he’s a decent substitute.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka
(L to R) Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone), Rafiki (voiced by Kagiso Lediga), and Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) in Disney’s live-action ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Harrison Jr. has more to play as Taka, since his character gets to be first enthusiastic and then bitter, forming the basis for what will become Scar.
In fact, he gets some excitement from the role, even if he’s a little weakened by logic issues; despite being a moment late, you don’t really know why Mufasa would leave it there.
Tiffany Boone as Sarabi
(From left to right) Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone), Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre), Rafiki (voiced by Kagiso Lediga) and Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr. ) in Disney’s live-action film ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Sarabi –– the future Queen of Pride Rock –– serves mostly here as love interest for Mufasa and object of obsession for Taka, and while Boone’s performance is sweet and heroic, the role is rarely satisfying.
Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros
Kiros (voiced by Mads Mikkelson) in Disney’s live-action ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mikkelsen, here again on a villainous mission, is necessarily just a grumpy plot that threatens our heroes. He is the ultimate personality style of Scar, and although Mikkelsen still provides an antagonist, the character is quite a number.
(L to R) Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter) and Simba (voiced by Donald Glover) in Disney’s live-action ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In a world where “Wicked” can serve as an effective and emotionally satisfying prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” one would expect more of a “Lion King” origin story.
Unfortunately, this is rarely very embarrassing, as it provides few unforeseen events and settles for greater luck in the “Lion King” story.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” receives 5. 5 stars out of 10.
Mufasa: The Lion King”The tale of an orphan who searched for the king. “74PG1 h 58 minDecember 20, 2024Schedules and tickets
Mufasa, a lost and lonely lion cub, meets a friendly lion named Taka, heir to a royal lineage. The meeting triggers the great adventure of an organization of people. . . Read the plot
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ enlists Rafiki (John Kani) to relay the legend of Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) to young lion cub Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), daughter of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), with Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka — the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny — their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
(L to R) Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre), Young Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga), Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) in ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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