by ECI Released : 2025-01-03
Mufasa: The Lion King is a prequel to 2019's Lion King. The film also has a framing device set in the future, where the story of Mufasa is being told to Simba's daughter. It is directed by Barry Jenkins and stars Aaron Pierre and Kevin Harrison Jr. as a young Mufasa and Scar, respectively.
The film has a predictable plot similar to that of Transformers: one showing the origin story of an iconic villain and hero. Its music, despite being written by Lin Manuel Miranda, is largely forgettable except for one song, "I Always Wanted A Brother," which I thought was very good.
The performances by the main cast were solid but the narrative structure with the sequel elements was unnecessary and led to pacing problems in the film.
Overall the film had good performances, very good visuals that improved on the original, but a predictable plot with only one good song. It's an improvement over 2019's Lion King but the above-mentioned critiques prevent it from being a great film. If you want a film to take your kids to in the new year they may much prefer Sonic 3 but Mufasa is a good film and a solid outing for a family at the movies.
