Mufasa: The Lion King
Barry Jenkins directing a “live-action” “Lion King” prequel is not a film where we should expect much connective tissue to films like “Moonlight” or “If Beale Street Could Talk.” And yet, you can see the themes of family, figuring out your place in the world, and brotherhood that probably drew him to Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay. There’s a story to be told here that is engaging; unfortunately, some of the choices keep this from being much better than the 2019 remake of the original.
There is one major upgrade to this film that puts it above Jon Favreau’s remake, however, and that is the character animation. No doubt you have seen the video comparing the stampede where Mufasa dies in the 1994 version with its “live-action” equivalent, and how lacking in emotion the animation was in the moment. Jenkins and his animation team opt for an approach that embraces that this is, for all intents and purposes, an animated film, and gives the characters personality that allows for expressive faces and body movements. This is a significant improvement that gives us an example of Jenkins wanting to bring feeling to this film, even if it’s a distinctive change-of-pace from his more acclaimed films.
“Mufasa” starts in the “present day” of the story, and Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyonce Carter)’s daughter, Kiara (voiced by Blue Ivy Carter), being left with Rafiki (John Kani), Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) while they take are of something offscreen. Kiara wants to hear a story, and she is told the story of her grandfather, and how he became the king of the pridelands. How does Rafiki know? Well of course he was a part of it, and can tell how Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) and his brother, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), became adversaries.
The narrative of “Mufasa” has the future king get separated from his parents in a flood, and adopted by Taka’s mother (Eshe), while Taka’s father (Obasi)- who is the ruler of that pride- wants nothing to do with the orphan. Taka, however, is excited to have a brother, leading to one of the film’s original songs, “I Always Wanted a Brother.” The original songs are co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (with this one being co-written by Jenkins’s regular composer, Nicholas Britell), and while the songs in this film are not as memorable as the iconic work by Elton John and Tim Rice in the original classic, they give off a feeling that is very fitting for the story being told. When a pack known as “The Outsiders,” led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), attacks Obasi’s pride, it leaves Mufasa and Taka on their own, hoping to find a land that Mufasa’s parents were hoping to get to.
When Jenkins’s film keeps its focus on Mufasa, Taka, and their journey- which will later include Rafiki, Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), and Zazu (Preston Nyman)- the film spins a tale of power, honor, and brotherhood that- while not really illuminating anything about Mufasa we didn’t already get from his moments in “The Lion King”- feels in keeping with the type of story that would resonate with the director. One of the big problems is that- likely due to pressures to appeal to younger audiences- we keep flashing back to the present day. This is a familiar structural choice that we’ve seen in “The Princess Bride” and “The Neverending Story,” but it doesn’t work due to Timon and Pumbaa starting to grate in that “sidekicks getting more screen time than they should” way. The main story also suffers from the prequel impulse to “explain how everything happens.” If we had fewer cutaways to the present day, the prequel explanatory impulse might have been easier to bounce off of.
Is “Mufasa” a film that will ever be on the same level of Jenkins’s more acclaimed work? No; while he definitely brings his creativity to the table, this is very much a director-for-hire work from a filmmaker who works better when focused on the complexities of life and humanity. (He is also the writer and a producer on a boxing film called “The Fire Inside,” which comes out on Christmas Day, and feels much closer to his work.) But Jenkins and his collaborators do enough to make sure that “Mufasa” is more than just a soulless cash-in. The circle of life lives on.
