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“Mufasa: The Lion King” is exactly what you’d expect from a photorealistic Disney prequel/sequel directed by indie filmmaker Barry Jenkins. In other words, our guy lost. As insecure as its title, the House of Mouse’s latest spin-off of an animated classic comes from the Oscar winner behind the moody, R-rated masterpiece “Moonlight.” Jenkins’ pivot to a big-budget, kid-friendly project for a major studio was always intriguing. But in hindsight, it’s hard to imagine he ever really stood a chance at revolutionizing from within Disney’s so-called “live-action” money machine.
A busy-yet-bland franchise addition, “Mufasa” serves as the latest chronicle of the same lion-based events of Jon Favreau’s divisive “The Lion King” from 2019. Although critically disliked, that film made $1.65 billion at the worldwide box office by staying mostly faithful to the original move in a ground-breaking visual style. It attached a roster of A-list talent, including Donald Glover and Beyoncé (who return briefly in “Mufasa”), and was heralded as a technical achievement at the Academy Awards. Your mileage on that “Polar Express” may vary, of course.
Despite Jenkins’ track record and clear artistic touch, the light of Favreau’s semi-success taints everything all it touches here. The contrived script from Jeff Nathanson — introducing more lions with political and sexual frustrations than it knows what to do with — is packed front to end with raging rivers, steep cliffs, and poorly justified plot points tying those reasons for action sequences together. Supporting nearly as many new characters as there are genuflecting giraffes at Pride Rock, “Mufasa” is a story-within-a-story that reframes “The Lion King” within a sprawling map that’s not much fun to actually explore.
The maximalist approach isn’t likely to work when your warm-up act was a single-variable experiment… and you’re only keeping the variable people didn’t like… but even treating the 2019 film as the standard, the “Mufasa” visuals buckle under the strain of such an untamed narrative. A fantasy sequence skews a little too close to a Lisa Frank folder, while an enemy contingent of snow-white lions known as The Outsiders blend together in the worst way. Plus, Simba’s daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) pops up looking less like a collector’s National Geographic and more like a flesh-and-blood Neopet somehow got offline.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett CollectionTold by Rafiki (John Kani) to the adorable lion cub as an inspiring tale about her grandfather, the main arc traces how Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) came to be King — and how he met not just Rafiki, but also his future queen Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) and bird advisor Zazu (Preston Nyman). What happened to 1994’s Father of the Year before he was flung off a cliff into a pack of wildebeests? Unsurprisingly, it bears a striking resemblance to his son’s story and serves as a sneaky “Maleficent”/“Cruella” style origin story for Scar.
After getting separated from his family by a great flood — a shocking amount of this movie takes place in the snow and underwater — a young Mufasa (both Braelyn and Brielle Rankins voice the cub) finds himself an orphan of circumstance. The lost creature is reluctantly taken in by a half-friendly pride when his new friend Taka (Theo Somulu, later Kelvin Harrison Jr.) rescues him from a would-be crocodile attack. Taka’s mother, Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), embraces Mufasa instantly, but Taka’s fearsome father and the pride’s leader, Obasi (Lennie James), refuses to accept him completely.
In the “present” day, Kiara listens to Rafiki intently with perpetual scene-stealers Timone (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) serving as both meta commentary — and a reminder that Simba had it way better, even eating bugs.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Timone asks Rafiki, in one of two scenes seemingly designed to be quoted in a “Mufasa” review. “Try less childhood drama, more meerkat.”
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett CollectionIt’s a reasonable suggestion. Unimaginative musical numbers match the original bangers with copycat songs almost one-for-one, and just as Mufasa’s adoptive family starts to calm down, an even bigger threat emerges. Circled by an army of all-white lions (which, if you Google them, are rare, but do exist!), Taka and Mufasa are forced to flee the wrath of the inconsistently caddy Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) right as he’s singing his silly little villain song, “Bye Bye,” to the rest of his stolen subjects.
If even one brave decision was made during this project, then it was casting a Danish dude in a universe famous for its use of Swahili. Mikkelsen’s unique voice further protects his character from a pitfall that many of the other lions fall into. Awash with photorealistic sameness, “Mufasa” captures Jenkins’ literal attempt to herd big cats inside a frame that can’t keep the ambitious design up to pace with a pursuit-heavy plot. Up mountains. Down mountains. Through rivers. Around rivers. Look out for that stampede! And another one in 20 minutes! Song, song, jazz paws, repeat.
What feels like a tonal treadmill is mostly differentiated by environments that will no doubt be wildly confusing to many elementary schoolers’ understanding of African geography, and may even lead adults to mix up the characters. Taka and Mufasa look and sound too much alike, particularly during their scenes in the snow, and the same goes for their foes, The Outsiders. Go to the bathroom during the wrong adventure song/catastrophe/monologue and you may need a minute to get reoriented.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett CollectionIn some ways, that built-in visual confusion helps hide the movie’s most predictable twist (which, for what it’s worth, is already spelled out on the “Mufasa” Wikipedia page). How Scar became Scar is central to setting up “The Lion King” and its crowning brotherly betrayal. Vaguely masking that character’s identity might be a fun reveal for kids who otherwise could get ahead of themselves. But Taka and Mufasa’s lacking individuality explains why it’s even easier for Timone and Pumbaa to run away with their movie this time around. The comedic duo would manage it even faster if Disney would adapt their cult classic backstory “The Lion King 1½ ” from 2004 — but that would require getting Donald Glover and Beyoncé back for more than ten minutes in a project they almost certainly wouldn’t do.
The lack of a “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” encore doesn’t undercut Jenkins’ bone-deep commitment to drawing out sexual tension on screen, though. The sordid love story that emerges during Mufasa’s journey with Sarabi might be earnestly jarring at times (there’s so much… nuzzling?), but one could theoretically argue it brandishes earnest flecks of “Moonlight.” It’s tough to suss out how much of that comes from Jenkins’ direction or Nathanson’s script. But it’s both a goofy reprieve from taking the more-is-more approach to what was once ostensibly an allegory based on “Hamlet” — and a smirk-inspiring reminder that wild animals coming-of-age have always played a strong role in “The Lion King.”
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett CollectionNot a single ‘90s kid could forget Nala falling back into that bed of grass with those fireflies exploding behind her: a scene so weirdly sexy it has been canonized on more BuzzFeed lists than you can count kings in the sky. For this prequel/sequel, that same oddly electric energy fuels the only plot worth caring about for this treasured IP’s greater storytelling circle of life.
The ending makes our title hero look so outlandishly foolish you might never see him the same way, but if you loved Favreau’s film from 2019 (and are still largely untroubled by eyestrain), then this hugely flawed expansion is worth watching. See it in theaters if the natural history museum is closed — or wait for it to come out on Disney+. “Mufasa” has hidden charms that are arguably best described as Jenkins released straight to VHS.
Grade: C+
Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” will be in theaters Friday, December 20.
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