Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)
Directed by Barry Jenkins
Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of a group of misfits searching for their destiny.
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What critics compared Mufasa: The Lion King to
Mufasa: The Lion King opens in the only way possible, a heartfelt tribute to James Earl Jones, the original and iconic voice of the titular character from the 1994 original. As fantastic of a job as Aaron Pierre does as the king before he was king, Mufasa will always be synonymous with the rich tones of Earl Jones. But what a delightful tribute this 2024 instalment into the franchise is.
And with Jenkins at the helm, Mufasa: The Lion King is also a marked visual improvement from the 2019 Lion King's pallid, nearly shot-for-shot re-creation of the 1994 animation.
With this prequel to 2019's photoreal-ish re-do of 1994 Disney alpha-hit The Lion King, director Barry Jenkins (of Moonlight Oscar-win fame) has joined the ranks of cool indie auteurs going for a surprising splash in the studio guard-railed mainstream.
This is a prequel and a sequel — the split is about 85/15 — to 2019's "The Lion King," the live action-like photorealistic remake of 1994's "The Lion King."
Mufasa is known to be a wise and philosophical ruler from the 1994 animated film The Lion King; however, the screenplay of Mufasa: The Lion King has really few scenes that could convince us that his journey in this film moulded him into the Mufasa we know and love.
Couched in the context of a modern fable like The Lion King, that tale has the chance to reach virtually everyone, especially the children who need to hear it. And that’s a powerful thing that Mufasa doesn’t shy away from.
Of course, in the end, he did read it, and you can see why it clicked: the theme of found family that powered Moonlight is present here, too, as lion cub Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) is separated from his parents during a raging flash-flood, and is reluctantly taken in by another pride, finding an adoptive brother in its prince, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr).
So it was a surprising development when Jenkins, an auteur best known for weighty features such as Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, was announced as the director of a new prequel focused on protagonist Simba's father.
Jenkins, of course, is the director behind the Oscar-winning Moonlight and his equally acclaimed follow-up If Beale Street Could Talk. Mufasa: The Lion King marks his return to feature filmmaking since that 2018 romantic drama. When I learned he was attached to direct The Lion King follow-up, I was worried he was going to be more of a work-for-hire controlled by the studio executive rather than a visionary director with a voice of his own.
Squint the tiniest bit and you can see the outlines of a film that could sit proudly next to Moonlight and, especially, If Beale Street Could Talk, which also deconstructs what it means to break the cycles that hold Black people back from greatness.
Mufasa: The Lion King could have been a good experience having in mind the fact that Barry Jenkins, who won an Oscar for the best directing of Moonlight, was attached to the project.
Director Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight," "If Beale Street Could Talk") takes the reins from Jon Favreau for one of the more convincing computer generated 'live action' films from Disney yet.