Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King kind of reminds me of a cheap pulled pork sandwich. You know it could be better. You know you could have thrown that rich, juicy slab of meat into a smoker and lightly peppered it with choice spices with just a pinch of sauce to create a masterpiece that melts in your mouth. But instead, you made a mad dash through a drive-thru for a quick bite. And while you know this difference, the cheap sandwich still scratches the itch just well enough to put a smile on your face. 

That, more or less, is how I felt about Mufasa: The Lion King. I often tend to base my reviews at least partially on what I anticipate the world saying about them. I’m almost like a pushback to the public sometimes, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t be that way with this one. Most of the people that I have talked to about this movie approach the topic with a groan, griping about how Disney is a greedy money-grubber with no real creative ideas. 

Well, I can’t say that’s completely wrong. 

But then again, I’m also a big fan of mindless action movies, so maybe it’s just my style. 

But there’s plenty to like about this movie. Mainly, the visuals are stunning. It’s the BBQ sauce of this sandwich. The main ingredient that brings the whole thing together. From the lush sceneries like snowy mountains, to details like the fur on the characters, there’s a lot of inspiring stuff to look at. And there are a few scenes that get a little creative, too. Like one where a young Mufasa’s face is reflected in the first drop of rain. It looks inspiring, to say the least. I had a lot of these moments where I couldn’t help but think “wow, look at that!” It was a real treat. 

But strangely enough, this love and care doesn’t translate well into the character design. It’s embarrassing how alike some of these characters look sometimes. I couldn’t tell the difference between Mufasa’s female traveling companion and his own mother! They had a few shots together, and I could barely tell who was who. I’m not just saying that because the original animations had vibrant, distinct colors. No, these characters actually just looked that similar. 

And I feel like part of this is simply because Disney didn’t care to make the characters interesting at all. I felt a distinct lack of life from the participants of the plot. Some voice lines were delivered flat, dampening the impact of an otherwise pivotal moment. Other times, I feel like a character simply wasn’t given any interesting qualities, or memorable moments to develop them. They were simply..

There. 

But there was one thing that I was really curious about going into this movie: how they would portray a young version of a wise character. I always liked the character of Mufasa. Between the original voice acting and the role he played as the guiding father, the character always held a special place for me. Well, I’m happy to announce that they did manage to capture that balance in some incredibly tangible ways. I won’t spoil it, but you’ll see what I mean if you go see it.

As far as the plot goes, it’s fairly simplistic. I was a little disappointed at how forgettably they decided to make it. Especially for elements of an origin story. I feel like the tale of how characters came to be friends, how different details came to pass, and so on, should be exciting and memorable moments that make up the movie. Sadly, a lot of them were simply “well, it just happened.” That really bummed me out. I was even a little on the fence about the tale of how scar got the mark on his face. I won’t spoil it, but it definitely wasn’t a moment that wowed me.

Honestly, the whole thing felt like a teenager who just “whatevered” his way through his English project in hopes of getting a C+. And that’s really sad, since they did a half-decent job with Mufasa himself. The potential was actually there for once. Had they just taken the time to make the movie a little more memorable, it could have truly become something special. Instead, they padded the run time with extra fluff rather than delving deeper into the story and characters they had created. All because it’s Disney, and they can afford to get away with being a little bit lazy. But that’s what you get, and if you can come to expect this going into the movie, you might just have a pretty good time. 

And sadly, this “C+” mentality goes for the music as well. Musical numbers range from “meh,” to “why?!?!” (I actually had one number that I started actively shaking my head. It was very strange.) There was one musical number that felt entirely out of place. It made for a really awkward moment. I felt like they were really stuck on using the same beat over and over. At times it worked, and others-not so much. Other than the few misplaced beats, I can’t say that any of the music was terrible, per se. It’s just that none of it was memorable. I couldn’t name one piece or sing one line from the entire movie after I left, and there's something quite wrong with that. Just another area that they could have done much better in to improve the overall quality of this movie.

Under any other circumstances, I’d say you should go see this movie for yourself, but it has to compete with Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And I can tell you now that Sonic will be a better watch. Maybe go see it in a week or two afterwards if you really want to. But overall, this movie isn’t bad, simply not crafted with much loving care that it ought to have received.

At the end of the day, I would give this a fun-rating of 45%. If the trailer caught your eye, go see it! You won’t be disappointed.