Mufasa: The Lion King

This weekend, Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to the 2019 “live-action” Lion King, was released in theaters. The movie follows Mufasa after he is separated from his parents. He meets a prince called Taka, and the two must venture across the Savanah to find a safe haven for Taka to rule. I was very skeptical of this movie, seeing it as no more than a blatant cash grab. 

Unfortunately, this movie did not win me over. There were some good moments in it but overall the movie did not do it for me. Just like with The Lion King, the visuals are very well done. It is so amazing how they can create CGI animals that look so real. This movie is completely animated but everything about it looks so real. Other movies using CGI could take a lesson from this movie. I also thought the telling of Mufasa’s leadership origins was very well done. The way he can bring people together really shows why he is such a respected leader in The Lion King. 

While there were some decent aspects, there was a lot about this movie that didn’t work for me. I didn’t think Scar’s origin was very well done. His personality change is based upon one moment and his character just does a complete 180 from where he was before. I think his fall could have been slightly more gradual instead of a sudden change to start the third act. I also didn’t like the tie-in to the original Lion King where it kept cutting back to Timon and Pumba. It halts the story, as they are only there to provide some comedic commentary. Their scenes serve no purpose beyond that. I also didn’t think the songs were all that good. It just felt like they needed to include songs because it’s The Lion King. I think the movie would have been better without them. The biggest issue was that I just thought the movie was unnecessary. Nobody asked for an origin story about Mufasa and the only reason they made the movie was because The Lion King made a billion dollars. I don’t think the movie was good enough to justify its existence. Part of me doesn’t want this movie to do well box office-wise, so Disney learns that people aren’t going to a movie just because you slap The Lion King on it. 

Overall, while it is a very good-looking movie, I don’t think it was a story that needed to be told. It added some good aspects to Mufasa’s character but it didn’t do enough good to justify being made. 

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+ Recommendation: Wait to stream it