by James Coulter
Disney currently has two live-action remakes in theaters. One is Snow White. The other is Lilo & Stitch. And yet, rather than review either of those, I’ve chosen to review a live-action remake that was released nearly half a year ago: Mufasa: The Lion King. Because it will be a cold day in the bad place when I decide to spend my hard-earned cash to watch a Disney live-action remake in theaters!
In 2019, Disney released its live-action remake of The Lion King. And despite the CGI animals in that movie making wild animals in a NatGeo documentary look more animated in comparison, that movie earned so much money at the box office that it became the top-grossing animated film of all time, even beating out the original Lion King.
So, of course, Disney wanted to capitalize on its success by releasing another Lion King movie. But rather than go the easy route of remaking Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, Disney, surprisingly enough, decided to do something original by making a prequel film based on Simba’s father, Mufasa. But did Mufasa: The Lion King live up to its royal title? Or did it deserve being dethroned at the box office by Sonic 3?
The film starts with Simba and Nala heading off to have a second cub. They leave their daughter, Kiara, to be watched over by Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki, the latter of whom decides to keep the young lion cub entertained by telling her the story of her grandfather Mufasa.
After being separated from his parents by a flood, the young Mufasa is adopted by the family of Taka (who grows up to become Scar). However, upon growing up, Mufasa once again faces danger when a pride of white lions, led by the evil Kiros, arrives to attack his new family and take over their homeland.
Now, Mufasa and Taka must embark on a journey to seek haven in Milele, a lush oasis that many lions dismiss as a legend. Along the way, the two lions are joined by Mufasa’s future wife, Sarabi, her guardian, Zazu, and the outcast mandrill Rafiki. Will this band of animals reach the fabled Milele and escape the evil clutches of Kiros? Well, the fact that The Lion King exists pretty much answers that question, now doesn’t it?
So, have you ever wondered how Mufasa became the titular Lion King? How Scar got his eponymous scar and name? Or how Pride Rock came to be? I’m sure many people pondered these very questions. But these are questions that are probably best left unanswered and don’t require a whole movie to answer. After all, sometimes it’s best to let viewers think for themselves and come up with their own answers.
But, of course, Disney can’t make money off people using their own imaginations. So, they decided to make a whole movie answering these questions that some people may have been wondering, but weren’t really demanding any answers for. Because Disney needs to make all of the money!
To its credit, Mufasa has two things in its favor. First, its animal characters are animated slightly better than in the previous live-action film. The 2019 Lion King really wanted to make the animal characters look realistic to a fault. They look so much like real animals that they lack any real expression. In contrast, Mufasa has the characters occasionally smile and emote, making them slightly more expressive.
And second, Mufasa attempts to tell an original story. Again, it would have been so much easier for Disney to create a remake of the second animated Lion King movie. But they decided to put in some effort by creating an original story.
Even then, Mufasa still isn’t a good movie. Its story may be original, but it’s a story that didn’t need to be told. No one needed to know how Scar got his name or scar, or how Pride Rock was created, or even how Mufasa became king. And like most other prequels, the fact that the original movie exists removes all tension on whether or not this story will play out well.
Then there’s the music. For a movie based on an animated classic with a memorable soundtrack, the music in this movie is rather unmemorable and unremarkable. They certainly don’t live up to the iconic songs from the original Lion King soundtrack.
The worst offenders are “I Always Wanted a Brother”, which has the young Taka sing the word “brother” extremely awkwardly, and “Bye Bye”, the villain’s song, which tries to sound intimidating, but the way Kiros says “Bye Bye” sounds less intimidating and more like how Donald Trump says those words.
Believe me when I say there’s no good reason to watch this movie, and I’m glad I never paid good money to see it in theaters. It was as bland, boring, and unnecessary as the Lion King remake and pretty much every other Disney live-action remake. Which is why I’m not in a big rush to watch either Snow White or Lilo & Stitch in theaters.
Listen to an audio version of this review in the One Movie Later podcast on Chattin on the Ridge: https://shows.acast.com/chattin-on-the-ridge/episodes/one-movie-later-thunderbolts-yet-another-disney-live-action-
