Mufasa: The Lion King

Barry Jenkins' prequel is intriguing, but falls into familiar beats

Hollywood is split between studios churning endless arrays of sequels and small auteur-driven cinema. Every once in a while there is crossover between these two worlds, as renown directors are wooed by the call of money. Chloe Zhao fell for Marvel’s spell with Eternals (2021), Kenneth Branagh directed Thor (2011), and now Barry Jenkins has succumbed to direct Mufasa: The Lion King (2024).

Mufasa is the origin story of the iconic patriarch from The Lion King (2019). This film is another photo-realistic animation. The story is told by the sage monkey Rafiki (John Kani) to Simba’s (Donald Glover) daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). We learn of how young Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) came from humble beginnings, taken in by the royal family of the playful Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the future Scar, and then given chase by tyrannical white lions led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen).

Jenkins works off a script by Jeff Nathanson, and the singularity of this creative approach is noticeable. The plot takes hints from royal dramas, much as how The Lion King () borrowed heavily from “Hamlet.” This gives the story a dose of originality given it gratefully isn’t following in the “remakequel” path of remaking the original film repeatedly. The result is a darker tale than I would have expected from the hyper-cautious Disney. There are frequent allusions to death, orphaning, and political backstabbing.

However, only so much daring from Jenkins and Nathanson can make it to screen on an enormous $200 million film. The frequent cuts back to Rafiki’s narration seem studio-enforced, trying to get familiar faces in the film that can then be used in the marketing. This slows the fluidity of the narrative at key points. There are also unnecessary winks to The Lion King that are cringe-worthy nudges from the studio to viewers, trying to comfort them with familiarity. God forbid something be too original. The result is that Mufasa doesn’t free itself from the blockbuster shackles it originates in, following tired tropes and beats by the time credits roll.

The animation of photorealistic environments and animals is once again spectacular. Some scenes were a little too ambitious, however, looking unfinished. Other moments, though, took my breath away, such as a sequence that mixed snow with fur. There is also a noticeable correction regarding criticism that the 2019 animals had realistic, but monotone expressions, leaving key moments feeling cold. In Mufasa effort has been made to modify the eyes of the animals to be more emotional, helping carry more sentimental scenes across.

James Earl Jones is a tough voice-role to fill, but Pierre does a fine job, showing his character acquiring a growing gravitas. Lin-Manuel Miranda, meanwhile, is the star signing, tasking with writing new songs. It’s a Herculean task to follow up Elton John’s songs from the original, sadly Miranda falls short, delivering his weakest compositions in a while. The songs felt lyrically stale and melodically forgettable, with Miranda struggling to flit the style of the original with his own.

In the end, Mufasa is a passable prequel. Jenkins and Nathanson do well to craft an intriguing if overly-familiar plot structure that n pushes darker and more intriguing elements. However, Mufasa doesn’t break from its own IP’s shadow, falling into familiar beats and obligations, watering down an entertaining, but unmemorable film.

6.6/10