An Unnecessary Prequel to an Unnecessary Film

Previously, back in 2021 (a full two years after it came out because I just didn’t want to have to think about the film for that long) I reviewed the “live action” (read: CGI animated to make it look like live action) The Lion King. There’s not need to go in depth here; suffice it to say that I felt it was a completely unnecessary and wholly unoriginal version of the film, lacking the even minor creative flourishes of many of the other live action remakes of Disney films (such as 2019’s Aladdin or 2017’s Beauty and the Beast). And it’s not as if the film tried to find some new spin on the material it could have pursued, such as the Sleeping Beauty remake, Maleficent, which is still, hands down, the best live action adaptation DIsney has done for one of the animated classics.

The only reason Disney had to make a new version of The Lion King was money, since the live action remakes (such as Maleficent) made a whole lot of money. The Lion King was one of Disney’s biggest animated hits ever, and is often considered one of their finest animated films, so it was only a matter of time before the company made another one. The fact is, though, that the film feels so safe, rarely changing anything about the story, the characters, the songs, or anything else, such that you don’t need to watch the new version because everything you want (including great visuals) is in the original. But people flocked to the theater to see The Lion King once again, just now in CGI, and the film made a stupid amount of money: $1.657 Bil against a budget of $260 Mil. That’s too much money to ignore.

And so, five years later, while Disney’s fortunes have begun to flag and people aren’t nearly as enamored with the live-action remake craze as they once were, Disney is back in The Lion King well with a new film, not one specifically based on a previously released movie. While the original The Lion King had two sequels as well as a couple of spin-off TV shows, none of those are the basis for this new film: Mufasa: The Lion King. Instead we get a prequel to that story following Simba’s father, the titular Mufasa, as he rises from unassuming common lion into the leader of the pack. It’s a nice idea, it just would have been better if it didn’t still feel so safe and recycled.

We meet Mufasa (first voiced as a child by Braelyn and Brielle Rankins, and then Aaron Pierre as an adult) as a young cub following his mother and father, Afia and Masego (Anika Noni Rose and Keith David, respectively), on their journey to Milele, a promised land of giving. Unfortunately, during their travels through an arid, hardscrabble land, Mufasa gets caught in a nasty rain storm and ends up washed out into the sea. There he floats for a time until he comes inland where another young lion cub, Taka (Theo Somolu as a child, Kelvin Harrison Jr as an adult), helps him out of the water and takes him back to his pack.

Separated from his pride, Simba is taken in by the females of this new lion pack, with Taka’s mother, Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), treating Mufasa like another son. The king of the pride, Obasi (Lennie James), rejects Mufasa, though, and treats him like an outsider, someone that should be killed because outsiders are evil. This is because there’s a pack of white lions, led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), that have been systematically killing all the lion prides, taking over all these lands for him and his kind. Mufasa grows up strong, powerful, and wise, skilled in hunting and fighting, but it’s clear that one day he and Taka will have to take on the white lions when they come for their pride, and when, that day comes, one of them just might have to step up and be the new leader of the pack.

Starting off this review by being kind, I do want to credit Disney with crafting a very handsome film. Everything in this film looks very lifelike and realistic. All the animals, the way they move, the way they work within the backgrounds, and the backgrounds themselves, all look like real nature. This film, by grace of working with created animal characters (and not humans) is able to move past the uncanny valley and make something that, at least when the animals are moving (and not specifically talking, singing, dancing, and the like) looks like it could come straight out of a nature documentary. The animation is so natural that, if the creatures didn’t sing, dance, and talk, you’d swear it was real. It’s truly impressive.

To go along with that, the voice actors are fantastic in this film. Say whatever else you will about the content of Mufasa: The Lion King (and you can bet we will in a sec), the acting in the film is fantastic. While the script might have issues, and the dialogue isn’t always great, the actors sell it for all they can. This could have just been a paycheck film for many of them (especially the big stars, such as Mikkelsen) but it never sounds like one. At a practical level this film does all it can to try and sell the reality of this world and, if it came packaged with a better script, it would be amazing.

The issue is that it’s all wrapped around a script that doesn’t deserve this kind of fawning attention. At its core Mufasa: The Lion King isn’t a story worth telling. It has its moments, sure; times where the film is able to rise above for a few seconds and get in a good joke, a heartfelt moment, a tight bit of action. It’s all in service, though, to a story that feels too safe, too staid, too expected. Its very construction fails to live up to the needs of the film, and then the movie feels the need to rush through everything to get to the expected ending.

To be clear, this is a prequel and, as such, we already know where the film is going. The main character, from his introduction, is Mufasa. There’s no question who he is or who he will be. This will be the king of the lions by the time the film ends because that’s his story. We already know where he is in the original film, so there’s little tension in this film because of it. It’s not as if we can expect this character to die, or take damage, or suffer any nasty consequences because none of that is reflected in the original film. All this film can do, by grace of when it’s set and who it’s focused on, is show us the original for all the things we know: how Mufasa became king of the pridelands, how he meets Sarabi (voiced by Tiffany Boone), how Taka becomes Scar, and even how Rafiki (John Kani) gets his walking stick.

And honestly, even the story feels like something we’ve seen before. Mufasa, going from no one to king, runs parallel to Simba, even down to the fact that he ends up stealing the right to the throne from Taka/Scar. It’s such a simple and expected storyline that I’m not even bothering to spoiler it. If you are surprised by and of the beats of this film that just means you’ve never seen the first one, a fact that even this film doesn’t expect since it recycles in a bunch of the characters from the original film for a framing device to this movie.

That’s actually one of the few things this film directly borrows from a previous bit of The Lion King media. Mufasa: The Lion King has Timon Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogen) hang out and comment on the story in a role similar to their job in The Lion King 1 1/2. It misuses them, even, because these characters were one of the bright spots in the remake but they’re so tired, stupid, and boring in this film that it ruins all the fun of having them around. The film could absolutely remove their bits entirely and all it would do is make the film shorter. Blissfully shorter, I might add, because at two hours long this film feels like a chore to get through.

And, honestly, there’s a way this film could have been interesting. Along with removing the framing device, one simple change could have made the film much more interesting: don’t name Mufasa as Mufasa. Make that name a title for the king of the lions. Mufasa has a different name, and we meet a different character named Mufasa. That character is a lazy, tired, boring lion, and when the white lions come and kill the pride, our protagonist and Taka go on the run together. We spend the movie wondering which of these two, our hero or Taka, is the one that will become Mufasa, and when the film hits its climax and makes it clear who the real Mufasa is, his whole journey feels earned.

But that kind of storytelling is too interesting, too daring for Disney. They want something safe and staid, something that doesn’t challenge viewers. An interesting film where you don’t know who to root for and where allegiances could change based on the actions of characters is far too much for a film like this. They have to focus-test and edit and retest over and over until a film loses anything that makes it fresh or interesting. And I’m sure the same thing happened here, with Disney sanding off any edges the film might have had until what we’re left with is a sad, pale, rushed imitation of the original film that never nails its story or its character beats.

To be clear, I don’t mind the idea of a new, original film set in the universe of The Lion King. I certainly like the idea of that a whole lot more than an unnecessary remake that doesn’t add anything new to the material. Mufasa: The Lion King is a step better than 2019’s The Lion King, but that’s only because the remake was an absolutely dreadful film that didn’t need to exist. It’s not hard to clear that bar. This film will never be considered a classic the way the original animated film is still held. Disney doesn’t make those kinds of films. This is the expected live action continuation to an expected live action remake, and while it does rise up slightly over that film, it’s not enough to actually be considered “good”.