‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ review: Visuals and music lift a sagging plot
Barry Jenkins’s photorealistic animation film is out in cinemas.
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Mufasa: The Lion King tries to address the criticism levelled at its predecessor, the photorealistic animation film The Lion King based on the traditional animation drama of the same name. The characters in The Lion King (2019) were faulted for not having convincing enough expressions. Mufasa goes to the other extreme: its players are far too expressive.
While Barry Jenkins’s prequel can’t overcome the strangeness of watching realistic-looking animals move their mouths, grin or weep and even sing, Mufasa has stunning visuals and a peppy score by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay retools its source material’s themes of courage, responsibility and leadership. The film is framed as an origin story for Mufasa, the father of The Lion King’s hero Simba.
The mandrill Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) tells the lion cub Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), the warthog Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and the meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner) about the formative years of Kiara’s grandfather Mufasa (Aaron Pierre).
As a cub, Mufasa is separated from his parents. Mufasa is adopted by a pride of lions and befriends Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr) despite protests from Taka’s status-conscious father Obasi (Lennie James). The mean-spirited albino lion Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) and his harem of lionesses force Mufasa and Taka to set out on a perilous journey, which tests their friendship.
The anthropomorphising of animals and...
