Mufasa: The Lion King – A Legacy Diluting Prequel

In the IP/content age, the goal for studios is to leverage their owned properties as much as humanly possible all for the sake of the box office. There is perhaps no bigger example than Disney, and their steady stream of live action adaptations of their notorious animated films. Succeeding in spite of the question of whether or not these adaptations are even warranted in the first place, that stream does not look to be ending anytime soon. Their most successful adaptation in terms of box office gross, so far, has been 2019’s The Lion King, the critically-panned adaptation of the 1994 animated classic. A glorified tech demo with commentary track level voice acting, the film essentially throws the original film back at audiences, though one devoid of the same life, energy, or emotion needed to resonate in any way. Diving in for more, Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to the 2019 adaptation (and essentially the 1994 original), leads to even more questions with the biggest being why is a prequel even needed, let alone one in the shadow of such iconic source material. While the answer remains a no, regarding the worthiness of yet another live action adaptation, the kind of lifeless CGI that plagued the previous installment is much improved, but that’s not saying much overall.

If the above was any indication, Mufasa: The Lion King is a prequel of The Lion King that focuses on the story of the rise of Mufasa (Pierre) through the lens of his tumultuous relationship with Scar, then Taka (Harrison Jr.). After a freak tragedy left him lost and alone as a cub, Mufasa found refuge in Taka, another cub and heir to a royal bloodline. Feeling the pressure and the weight of expectations of his future, the former came at the right time, assuming the role of brother after being reluctantly taken in by his family. Giving Taka the chance to fool around and have fun like lion cubs should, Mufasa was still an outsider to the rest of the pride. Spending season after season with his new pride, Mufasa became further entrenched, stepping up  as Taka continued to work towards his presumed future. However, over time, it was clear that his destiny may not be the case. Nevertheless, the brotherly bond between he and Mufasa remained unshakable but that bond would quickly find itself put to the test as the pair set out on an adventure to escape a pride of white lions, led by the ruthless Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen).

In what was essentially a coming-of-age story for Mufasa and Taka, they had each other as they were forced to survive on their own in unfamiliar territory while being pursued by Kiros and the white lions. On a quest to find the mythical land known as Milele, the story systematically plugged in familiar characters over the course of their journey, be it Sarabi (Boone), Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga), or Zazu (Preston Nyman). Meanwhile, it was only a matter of time until cracks formed as a combination of resentment and jealousy slowly created a growing wedge between them as Taka saw Mufasa seemingly steal what he believed to be his true destiny. That being said, Kiros and the white lions were a force that could not be underestimated, breaking up that drama and making for a decent foil for the band of misfits. Ultimately, the final outcome was never in question, predictable story or not. Framing the premise as a present day story told from the older Rafiki (John Kani) to Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala’s (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), with the help of Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogen), the film would jump between the past and the present if only to remind audiences or for Timon and Pumba to needlessly interject with their own unfunny commentary. Providing breaks in the action, it could easily have gone without the present day section altogether but creating some sort of connection with the 2019 film was apparently important.

In the end, where Mufasa: The Lion King fails is within its foundation. Leaning on an atrocious script, it was the dialog’s turn to be lifeless, delivering clunky and heavy-handed exposition to move things along, not to mention the unfunny Timon and Pumba barbs. Hoping to whisk things along before audiences notice, original music from Lin-Manuel Miranda hopes to offer up even more of a distraction. However, the problem with the music lied with how derivative it was. Uninspired and unmemorable, the songs feel forced, interrupting the flow of the film rather than fitting in naturally in the plot. Adding to their plight, in terms of the performances themselves, they feel manufactured to the point that they don’t match the voice actors’ voices. All doing the best with what they are given, Pierre, Harrison Jr., and co. can only do so much. They were fine but the one performance that sticks out for the wrong reason is Nyman as Zazu. Replacing John Oliver who played Zazu in the 2019 film, Nyman’s performance is basically a bad John Oliver impression fueled by a bad script. As mentioned, the major improvement over the previous film is the animal CGI. Their lifeless, near robotic, nature made it difficult to connect with the characters on an emotional level because of their failure to emote, thus creating a disconnect. While that issue has been rectified here, it is difficult to connect with what they are saying.

All in all, Mufasa: The Lion King is an unnecessary prequel that fails to justify its existence as it further dilutes the legacy the original film.

still courtesy of Disney

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.