So, apparently, my last movie of 2024 was Mufasa: The Lion King. I never really wanted it to be that one. There are better-looking movies out there. I sure as hell didn’t care much for the “live action” Lion King remake. It made one of my “worst movies of the year” lists and everything! So, why go see Mufasa? Short answer: my girlfriend expressed interest in seeing the better movies, so I held off. Sure, she’s a Disney fan, but she was only so-so on Mufasa, preferring instead to see Moana 2. Personally, I would have rather seen the Bob Dylan biopic, but here we are, and this prequel is already on my worst movies of the year list for this year.
Anyway, Mufasa opens with a dedication to the late James Earl Jones. I think he deserved better.
The movie opens with a framing device. Simba (voice of Donald Glover) is going away for an unstated reason to be with his mate Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), leaving their young daughter Kiara (Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter) in the care of Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen). But a storm scares the young lioness, and her babysitters’ stories aren’t helping. Enter Rafiki (John Kani), who has a story of his own: how Mufasa became the king of Milele, AKA the Pridelands. Rafiki’s story might be entertaining on its own, but the movie keeps cutting back to Timon and Pumbaa doing unfunny bits of comedy, including the occasional meta joke (they mention a play about their story at one point).
But as for the story itself, a young Mufasa was swept away by a flood down a river while he and his parents were looking for the fabled land of Milele. He’s rescued from crocodiles by Taka, the son of the local king, Obasi (Lennie James). Obasi doesn’t trust strays and would have killed Mufasa were it not for Taka and his queen Eshe (Thandiwe Newton). Obasi, who says a good king needs deception and comes across as a wee bit lazy and cowardly, sends Mufasa off to learn hunting with Eshe and the other lionesses. However, Obasi is right to be concerned about strays when a pride of white lions, the Outcasts, show up to wipe his pride out. Led by the sinister Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), these new lions want to rule all that the light touches. Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) alone escape, and find eventual allies in the form of lioness Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), her hornbill scout Zazu (Preston Nyman, replacing John Oliver), and eventually, a young Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga). Can this unlikely group survive to find Milele and defeat the Outcasts?
OK, let’s list the good things first because there actually are some. The character animation has improved, so that the characters actually seem to be able to emote somewhat while still looking like the animals they are supposed to be. There are some impressive-looking “shots” that I am guessing are the product of Moonlight director Barry Jenkins since I have no idea what exactly a director does for a movie like this when he isn’t an animation director. And hey, it’s an original story this time. That has to count for something, right?
But then there’s the rest. There are songs, but many of them aren’t particularly memorable. The humor often isn’t all that funny as it is often so random, including a single fourth-wall break. When the climax comes along, it’s way over the top, and not in a good way. The Wild Robot did a much better job of showing a lot of animals teaming up to battle enemies, and it couldn’t have had the budget of this movie. And every time it looked like the movie was going somewhere, Timon and Pumbaa would interrupt. The good elements are drowned out by the many, mostly mediocre or dull ones. That’s mostly a script/narrative problem. But hey, at least this one was pretty to look at.
Grade: C-
0 Comments