Mufasa: The Lion King - Movie Review

The Movie: Mufasa: The Lion King

The Director: Barry Jenkins

The Cast: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Blue Ivy Carter, Braelyn Rankins, Theo Somolu, Folake Olowofoyeku, Joanna Jones, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Abdul Salis, Dominique Jennings and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

The Story: 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.

The Rating: 7 / 10

The Review:

Okay, let's get this out of the way. All the animals in the movie were created using CGI and they were made to look photorealistic and they can talk. Some people are going to have an issue with this because it's not all cute and cuddly like the cartoon and that's ok. This movie wasn't for them. Some people aren't really going to care one or the other, they just want to see a good movie. For the most part, I feel like that audience will be generally satisfied with the results.

For my part, I really enjoyed the movie and felt like it did take steps forward on the technical side of things from the previous film, The Lion King which of course is a reamke of one of Disney Animation's all time greatest cinematic achievement. So yeah, no pressure. This time around, Barry Jenkins takes over for Jon Favreau as director and honestly, I never would have noticed the change if I hadn't known any better. Both directors seemed to have a really good grasp on how to handle this type of project and the results show on the big screen.

Speaking of big screens, this movie is definitely worthy of heading out to the theater and watching it on the largest format screen you can find. The press screenng I attended was projected on to one of Regal's IMAX screens and everything about it was just gorgeous. Some scenes were so vibrant and colorful they were honestly a bit distracting and could have felt just as comfortable in Jon Chu's recent adaptation of Wicked which is also a super vibrant and colorful movie. I don't think that's a complaint though because I really enjoyed all of it.

It's really important to go into this type of movie with a proper set of expectations. A friend of mine told me, he had no expectation and yet he was absolutely blown away and loved it. Another friend said she loved the whole movie and she seemed more focused on the story than any technical aspect which is definitely a good sign. I pretty much had the same feeling as I was able to wrap my arms around the story as much as possible while still being able to take in th visual feast that was being thrown on to the screen as well as the wonderful score composed by Dave Metzger and songs brought to life by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda

The thing that really stood out to me about the music was that it was very Lion King, if that makes sense. There has been times when Miranda's signature sound has pulled me out of the vibe of the movie because it sounds more like him than the movie, also if that makes sense. Every song and every note of the score were all very much in tune with that made the original movie, the live action remake, and even the Broadway show so catchy and fun and lovable.

I also really liked the story telling technique that was used to keep some familiar faces from the last movie around. The movie tells a story of story tellers telling stories complete with life lessons and generational wisdom which is also very much in line with the franchise so, for me, all of that just felt right. You'll understand more when you see it, I don't want to spoil some of the fun things about all that, just keep in mind that this is a prequel and yet, if you look at the cast list, you'll see some familiar names from the previous installment.

Yes, I really did enjoy this movie a lot and I hope a lot of other people do as well. The people who are against live action remakes and all that kind of stuff aren't going to like it no matter what so keep that in mind when you see reviews popping up and social media posts being shared all over the place. Overall, I think this is a really great movie for families to check out during this holiday season or any season for that matter but it's being released right before Christmas so here we are. Enjoy!