We’re fortunate to have two movies by the great Barry Jenkins in the span of a week. Boxing drama The Fire Inside, the tremendous boxing drama that Jenkins scripted. And Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, the photorealistic prequel/sequel that serves as an origin story for Simba’s daddy and an iconic Disney villain, and a continuation for Simba’s daughter, Kiara, princess cub of the Pridelands. Jenkins merely directs the latter, and his sensitivity and thoughtful way of untangling knotty emotional relationships would’ve been a benefit. Few are better than he is, and Jenkins manages to overcome artistic pitfalls to craft a gorgeous, engaging tale of brotherhood, privilege, and sibling rivalry in the wild.
Penned by Jeff Nathanson, Mufasa: The Lion King is framed by a lot of unnecessary, but understandable, fan service. Timon (Billy Eichner), Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and the wise old mandrill Rafiki (John Kani) are left to babysit Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) during a raging thunderstorm when her parents, Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyoncé) must leave unexpectedly. With Kiara terrified by the storm and her parents’ absence, she is calmed with a grand story about Mufasa, her grandfather who had been King.
Red-hot Rebel Ridge breakout Aaron Pierre voices the older Mufasa, but it’s Braelyn Rankins voicing him as a mischievous cub. Because having a lion cub is like a death sentence in the Serengeti (The track record speaks for itself!), Mufasa finds himself a stray, and possibly an orphan when raging flood waters hit their home. Lost, Mufasa nearly drowns but is rescued by Prince Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and taken into a new pride, cared for by Queen Eshe (Thandiwe Newton). But the King, Obasi (Lennie James) is paranoid and hateful of outsiders, banishing Mufasa to stay with the lionesses while he trains Taka to rule one day. But it’s this exile that actually helps Mufasa as he learns to hunt and fend for himself. While he still can’t swim, he’s more capable than Taka who learns from his father that the males only need sleep all day while the females do all of the work.
This xenophobic attitude of Obasi’s comes back to haunt him when his worst fears about deadly roving packs of giant lions comes true. Led by the evil Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), a massive white lion with a fearsome mane, they attack suddenly and it’s Mufasa who leaps to Eshe’s defense. Desperate to protect the bloodline, Obasi sends Taka away with Mufasa, who has become like a true brother, as his guardian.
While the film tries to play coy, there’s no real secret as to who Taka will eventually become. If Mufasa: The Lion King has a major weakness it’s in the framing devices which drop a hammer on the film’s momentum multiple times, and are too silly for a story with such dire consequences. In one, Timon, Pumbaa, and Kiara tease knowing Taka’s true identity and it’s just too cute by half when the best thing to do would be to just say it. The audience isn’t stupid. Nostalgia is fine but it doesn’t serve the narrative well here.
Mufasa: The Lion King is also a musical, and while that’s not the issue in itself, it is when the songs are so bland. Hard to believe they’re from the generally amazing Nicholas Britell and Lin-Manuel Miranda, but there isn’t a track in here that threatens to become an iconic earworm. There seems to be some acknowledgment of this fact, too, captured in a sequence in which Timon and Pumbaa hit us with an updated version of “Hakuna Matata” titled “Hakuna Mufasa”. Yeah, I know, it sounds like something you’d spoonfeed to a baby. Just not great stuff here.
That said, the main story is thrilling, compelling, and often quite scary. Mufasa and Taka are hunted by the white lions at every turn, while also enduring the dangers of Mother Nature. They eventually hook up with another orphan, the young lioness Sarabi (Tiffany Boone) and her loyal scout Zazu (Preston Nyman), which causes unexpected conflict among the brothers. Just like a woman, always driving men apart! The Cain & Abel parallels are prevalent and play out in exciting ways. Knowing the future for these characters adds gravity to some of their actions, while their words we know will echo well into the future. There’s a fantastic story here that culminates in an epic showdown in the snowy mountains. It’s a battle where one lion’s true character will be revealed, another will ascend to greatness, and the Circle of Life will be rebuilt.
Mufasa: The Liong King is frustrating because it had the potential be so much better, possibly superior to its CGI predecessor. Franchise demands and a lackluster score rob it of that chance, but this is still a worthy successor you won’t feel scarred by for checking out.
