Mufasa: The Lion King tells the origin story of our favourite pride ...
It really is shaping up to be the season of villain origin stories.
Now that you know how the Wicked Witch of the West acquired her trusty broom, hat and maniacal cackle, here comes Disney with the backstory of The Lion King's nefarious Scar – patron saint of maligned hyenas, scourge of the Pride Lands and sworn enemy of the noble Mufasa.
Directed by — of all people — Oscar-winning Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins, this prequel to 2019's "live action" remake of The Lion King takes us back to a time when Mufasa and Taka — as Scar was once known — were but young cubs roaming the plains together.
The tale is told in flashback to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter, making her acting debut), the young offspring of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé), who've left their daughter — and the rest of the movie — in the babysitting paws of Timon (Billy Eichner), Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and the wise mandrill Rafiki (John Kani).
It's definitely not The Lion King origin story with which audiences are familiar.
Mufasa is pulled from the river by a young cub of royal blood named Taka and a friendship is born. (Supplied: Disney)
Long before he was king, it turns out that Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) wasn't of royal blood. As a cub, he was cut adrift from his parents in a freak flood, and rescued from the jaws of crocodiles by Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the royal heir to a mighty pride ruled by Obasi (Lennie James) and Eshe (Thandiwe Newton).
Adopted into the family, Mufasa's presence is contentious. Though adored by Taka and nurtured by the kind Eshe, he's scorned by Obasi, who sees him as a threat.
"Some day, he will betray you," Obasi tells Taka. "That's what strays do."
"[I was] much more animated than ever I would have done if the camera was on me, freaking out behind that mic," Mads Mikkelsen told HeyUGuys about voicing Kiros. (Supplied: Disney)
Still, Mufasa proves to be the star pupil of the pride, and a fierce protector of his adoptive brother. When Mufasa and Taka encounter a menacing gang of ghostly white lions — led by Mads Mikkelsen's whisker-twirling villain, Kiros — Mufasa saves the day, killing Kiros's son in the process.
Fearful of retribution, Obasi sends Taka away for his protection — with Mufasa by his side.
So begins an adventure into the wilderness, where the brothers will join forces with the young lioness Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), her hornbill consort (and future Mufasa majordomo) Zazu (Preston Nyman), and a spritely Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga), himself an outcast from his simian family.
"Sometimes you take it for granted and then it hits you, 'I'm the Rafiki! I play Rafiki!'" Kagiso Lediga told Primedia Plus. (Supplied: Disney)
Along the way, Taka's growing resentment of Mufasa's prowess — and his romantic bond with Sarabi — will curdle him into the villain we know and love.
Though it certainly wasn't loved by critics, Disney's Jon-Favreau-directed remake of The Lion King was a $1.6 billion smash, by far the biggest hit in their decade-plus project to remake seemingly every animated classic in their library. (Next up: Snow White, due in March 2025.)
That said, there was something eerily fascinating about the movie's uncanny synthesis of wildlife-documentary photorealism and rollicking Disney show-tunes, as though the exhibits in the African hall of the Natural History Museum had been shocked to life and put into service on Broadway. At the very least, it was bizarre.
A burning jealousy fuels Taka's transformation into the villain we know and love (to hate). (Supplied: Disney)
But 2019 was oh so very long ago. Considering the wild leaps in computer-generated storytelling since — particularly James Cameron's immersive Avatar sequel — and the looming ubiquity of AI imagery, watching high-tech animals act and sing has lost whatever perverse novelty it once held.
To be sure, Mufasa: The Lion King is a majestic-looking movie. From the arid plains and underwater passages to its breathtaking mountaintops, the world is meticulously realised; you almost feel like reaching through the screen and tousling the manes of those lions, so tactile do they seem to the eye.
Cinematographer James Laxton tells The Hollywood Reporter there are "a lot of reasons why this will be an exciting adventure for a lot of audiences". (Supplied: Disney)
And Jenkins, working with his regular cinematographer, James Laxton, pulls off some genuinely rousing shots, particularly as his lions race toward camera in high-speed pursuit — the kind of thing that has the giddy thrill of watching cat-camera POV clips. The film's climactic showdown has a painterly scope that's practically religious.
Yet where 2019's Lion King was underwritten by the 1994 film's beloved screenplay, songs and characters, the new prequel doesn't have the luxury of the familiar.
While the movie offers a passable series of action-adventure beats, it's caught between a compelling realism — the fights are often gnarly — and the need to plug in songs and gags, none of which works in combination.
Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner reprise their roles as Pumbaa and Timon but perhaps weren't required for this Disney epic. (Supplied: Disney)
Lin-Manuel Miranda's songs are mediocre, to put it kindly — there's nothing remotely approaching Beyoncé's 2019 soundtrack add-on, 'Spirit', let alone a 'Circle of Life'. Meanwhile, a fourth-wall-breaking Timon and Pumbaa, burdened with delivering most of the jokes, have well and truly outstayed their welcome.
It's all pretty disappointing, especially considering the movie has some interesting ideas about royal bloodlines and manifest destiny, elements of the original film that have sometimes bothered its critics.
At the same time, it ends up establishing its own version of animal monarchy just the same.
Jenkins might have been an inspired choice of director — and he's approached the project with an admirable degree of sincerity — but even he can't quite wrestle this film away from its creative redundancy.
On the upside, it seems like he's itching to get back to what he loves
Mufasa is showing in cinemas now.
