If, like me, you were born in the early to mid 1990s, Disney’s The Lion King might have been one your first cinema experiences. I remember my repeat viewings of the film vividly, and like many of us, particularly recall that formative experience of cartoon-parent mortality. I’m referring, of course, to the death-by-stampede of King Mufasa in front of Simba’s tiny lion cub eyes.
What with all this deep-seated nostalgia – and trauma – it’s quite a risky undertaking to make a Lion King prequel, especially one focusing on that beloved character, and which ditches the classic cartoon for a super-modern CGI (it follows a 2019 “live-action” CGI remake of the original). You’ve got to wonder why Barry Jenkins, the lightning-in-a-bottle visual storytelling talent behind the likes of Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, and mini-series The Underground Railroad and one of the most exciting cinematic voices of his generation, has done it.
But while his turn away from sincere, inventive, elliptical, serious adult film to a Disney-helmed children’s project was certainly a bit unexpected, the outcome is not, as some may have predicted, a disaster. This story of a young anthropomorphised lion seeking out his destiny to become the great leader of his pride is a perfectly palatable and entertaining family story, with enough physical jeopardy, savannah adventures and sharp-toothed predators to keep the young ’uns clutching their popcorn buckets. With more depth and texture than the 2019 CGI reboot of the original, the aesthetics of Mufasa are hyper realistic: the wet noses and tawny scruff of these creatures feel more real than in any previous iteration.
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Read MoreTelling the story of the young Mufasa and his brother Scar – and the origins of their Cain and Abel-esque relationship – Mufasa digs deep into classical themes of loyalty, family and revenge, seeking something vaguely literary amid all the wildlife spectacle. The much-loved mandrill Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) returns to tell the story of Mufasa and another lion, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr), the heir to the lion throne. As Mufasa is adopted by Taka’s royal family, the two friends go on a dangerous adventure together to learn their true destinies.
Aaron Pierre, the breakout star of Netflix action movie Rebel Ridge, is well up to the task of voicing Mufasa, with a singing voice to match. With music by Hamilton and Moana’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, you might expect the songs to be a bit catchier than they are – but these are the sticking point. Jenkins is the kind of talent who can turn his hand to almost anything and Mufasa is a respectable film as a result. But if this is the version of The Lion King that children of the 2020s are being asked to be nostalgic about, I’m not sure it’s up to the task.
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