‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ is a Decent Pride Rock Origin Story

Mufasa: The Lion King

★ ★ ★

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ is the origin story to both the 1994 animated film, The Lion King, and its 2019 “live action” CGI remake. This is a decent film, if you’re willing to overlook some annoyances, which I’m mostly willing to do – perhaps because I enjoyed the connections to the original film.

The movie opens as Simba (Donald Glover) leaves his daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) to be with his wife, Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) away from Pride Rock. When Simba leaves, thunder and lightning break out over their land, frightening Kiara.

To help Kiara overcome her fear, the Pride Rock shaman, Rafiki (John Kani), begins telling the story of her grandfather, Mufasa, originally voiced by the legendary James Earl Jones. Also tasked with looking after Kiara are Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogen), who helped Simba with his quest in the original film and provided the story’s comic relief.

Here, they’re more of an annoyance.

Rafiki tells the story of a young Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) that begins with his parents on a land far away from Pride Rock. Their land has experienced a severe drought and they are planning to travel to a far away land called Milele, which many consider to be a myth.

Rain comes before they can take their journey and brings with it a flash flood. Mufasa is washed away and carried to another distant land by the river. He’s found by another lion cub, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Taka takes Mufasa back home where we learn his father, Obasi (Lennie James) is king of this land. Obasi rejects Mufasa but his wife, Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), takes him under her wing and teaches him the ways of lion leadership.

Their land is overrun by a ruthless pride of white lions, led by a ginormous, ruthless lion named Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen). These events lead Mufasa and Taka, who have formed a brotherly bond, to escape and try to find Milele.

While this movie fails to show us much of anything we haven’t seen before, the characters work well together and the story, as basic as it is, is engaging.

The problem is, we’re often interrupted by present day TImon and Pumba interjecting weak attempts at comic relief, breaking up Rafiki’s narrative. This also threatens to diminish the emotional investment we’ve built for Mufasa’s story.

Also at odds with the flow of the film are very subpar musical numbers. They pale in comparison to the soundtrack in the original film by Hans Zimmer and the musical numbers by Tim Rice and Elton John. The lyrics feel forced and it feels like their purpose is to increase the film’s runtime.

Otherwise, it’s an engaging little adventure through the Pride Lands, giving us some insight into where Mufasa came from. Even if it’s unnecessary, it’s still worth a watch.

Kids & Family, Adventure, Drama, Animation