By Samuel Rillstone
Review - Disney's latest release Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to a monumental classic, has hit theatres, but is it all Hakuna Matata?
Directed by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), the story follows the orphan Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) who is befriended by young prince Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr) and adopted by Taka's family. The adoptive brothers are forced to journey across the Savannah to protect themselves from a pride of vicious white lions.
This is not a unique statement, but the original 1994 Lion King was a major part of my childhood and following the lacklustre 2019 photorealistic (I refuse to call it live action) remake, I wasn't stoked about the idea of a prequel.
Mufasa's pacing is jarring and a bit erratic, the colours flat and don't hold a candle to the charm of the original animation. Plus the story is told via Rafiki telling it to Simba's daughter Kiara, which really added nothing for me.
In regards to performances, Aaron Pierre as Mufasa is actually quite good. He has the needed deepness to his voice and has shades of the cadence of James Earl Jones while not doing a direct impression. It's a believable younger version of Mufasa which sounds like an obvious requirement but an important one.
Photo: Supplied / Walt Disney Studios
Kelvin Harrison Jr as Taka wasn't amazing for me. His performance changes halfway through to be closer to original voice actor Jeremy Irons. Narratively it works but it really shows the shortcomings in his voice up till that point.
Mads Mikkelsen gives a good performance as the villainous Kiros. Obviously it's Mads Mikkelsen so he's perfectly menacing and brings a gravitas to the sinister nature.
A surprise standout for me was actually Rafiki. He was amazingly performed by both John Kani and Kagiso Lediga as a younger version, the latter of which really encapsulates the original voice and mannerisms of Robert Guillaume. And I felt the film added a little extra something to the relationship between Mufasa and Rafiki.
Photo: Supplied / Walt Disney Studios
A lot of the dialogue is clunky and could definitely benefit from a little more show, don't tell.
Unfortunately the songs are forgettable and it's very hard to hear the words. But the ones you can hear are basic, not very imaginative and the casts' singing voices really lack the guts of the original. I thought Kiros' song was particularly patronising and juvenile. It's a surprise given it's Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the songs too.
Overall it's a fine experience, I wouldn't necessarily rush to see it. The majority of the story is kind of dull and boring. It feels like we are just padding time before we get to the final act which is compelling and interesting because it gets more into Mufasa and Taka/Scar's relationship as it stands in the original film. Which is because the original is more interesting, so watch that instead.
Mufasa: The Lion King (PG) is in NZ cinemas now.