Mufasa: The Lion King

 

Since the release of the original animated film in 1994, I’ve been a huge fan of The Lion King. Upon seeing the first trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King, I was choked up with emotion and stoked to see it in the theater. The opportunity to see the origin story of the lion who would become king and would go on to be part of one of my favorite Disney movies filled me with joy.  As the release date neared, rumblings of less than stellar reviews began, and I started to get anxious about the film living up to my hopes. I still showed up at y local theater opening day, with an open mind and high expectations.

Upon arrival, I was nervous seeing how the showing was largely empty. I caught the first show which happened to be in 3D (not that anything in the film was enhanced in my opinion), but even later and cheaper showings were sparsely attended when I checked online. 

Almost 24 hours later and I’m still mulling over and sorting out my feelings/views on this one. Here's where I'm landing and I'm sorry it's not more positive.

Visually, with the exception of a couple of instances, Mufasa: The Lion King is stunning and another triumph in photorealistic animation. It's really beautiful to look at. The actual premise is solid and does well functioning as both a prequel and a sequel. However, that’s pretty much the highlights of the film and also where the wheels fall off.

The execution of Mufasa just falls short and definitely left me wanting. 

Crafting a prequel is a daunting task since we already know the outcome going in, but Mufasa feels clumsier in its handling than most.  The storytelling through flashbacks is disjointed and uneven with seemingly random bouncing around between past and present continually pulling you out of the narrative. The use of Pumbaa and Timon is distracting to say the least and downright annoying. 

While the plot is solid, the narrative fails to fully get and keep you engaged, especially during the first half of the film.  Forty minutes into the 2-hour runtime, multiple checks of my watch, and I pretty much resigned myself to the fact I really didn’t care about any of these characters.  I wasn't given any real reason to. I know where the story is heading, give me a reason to care about the characters and where they started. That doesn't happen and the character development is cursory at best. 

There’s a lack of heart, emotion, or depth across the board, which left me disappointed. I really wanted to be drawn in, involved, and to care, but other than a handful of brief moments here and there, none of that happened. The second half of the film is better, but even with that, overall, I never got fully invested in the story.

Even the music fell short this time around. There were a couple of songs I enjoyed but the rest were...meh. Nothing too memorable when all is said and done.

And that right there is the crux of it for me. 

Mufasa: The Lion King isn’t awful, but it isn’t memorable either. It’s shiny and eye catching, but bland and uninspired. It’s telling that James Earl Jones himself passed on the opportunity to reprise his role in this film when offered the chance. It’s dedicated to him nonetheless but doesn’t live up to the legacy he helped create with this character. There's just no meat on the bones of this story and it's a crying shame.

Mufasa: The Lion King gets a 6.5 from me, mostly due to visuals and nostalgia.

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