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. (from IMDB)

When Disney started doing live action remakes, it was probably only a matter of time before 1994's The Lion King would get the live action treatment. And it eventually did, six years ago, in 2019. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film went on to become the 10th highest grossing film of all time worldwide (18th domestically), and one of the most successful animated films of all time. That's right... to appropriately make this animated film a live action one, it... has to be animated. But with its success, and Disney smelling money in the water, it should be no surprise that a sequel/prequel was greenlit, giving us 2024's Mufasa: The Lion King.

Mufasa: The Lion King opens with our characters from 2019's The Lion King after a little time has passsed. Simba and Nala go off to have a baby, leaving their little daughter to be looked after by Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa. In their care, they tell the story of Mufasa's rise to power, making the bulk of the movie a flashback. Occasionally, the narrative is interrupted by Timon and Pumbaa commenting on the tale, but for the most part, this is Mufasa's movie.

If you've seen and know The Lion King, Mufasa: The Lion King feels like a cheap retread. Sadly, everything about it reeks of a sequel cashgrab. The movie has an overall feel of a dip in quality - despite 5 years in technology having passed. Although the animation doesn't seem like it's progressed at all, it's evident the filmmakers wanted to try to remedy one major criticism of the 2019 movie. In that film, it was challenging to find that the realistic-looking CGI animals weren't expressive... something the 1994 movie certainly had going for it. This time around, the animals will smile, but it often looks kind of odd... if not entirely creepy sometimes (when it isn't supposed to be). In an attempt to give their faces more expression, too, we're often treated to fisheye lens angles of the characters, distorting their faces in a cartoony way that looks like they're looking into reflective spherical Christmas ornaments. It feels off the first time they do it... and the second, third, etc... It just never doesn't look odd.

To make things worse, the songs aren't very good. They're not all that memorable, and if anything, they can be pretty annoying. To hear the film's villain, Kiros - who's otherwise voiced well by the always intense Mads Mikkelsen - sing the words "bye-bye" as an intimidation tactic, but sounding more like a taunting preschooler, is a strange artistic choice. The longing for the promised land theme of "Milele" is repetitive and unappealing, while everything is pretty forgettable... except for maybe "I Always Wanted a Brother," which may be the only sort-of decent song present. (But that's not saying much. The way they sing "bruthahh" in a dragged-out manner is like nails on a chalkboard.)

Story-wise, there just isn't much about the movie that stands out as unique. It feels a lot like Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments, but never nearly as good as either of them. It heavily centers on Mufasa getting separated from his family and raised by a royal one (Moses, anyone?), with the prince Taka becoming like a brother to him. You can probably predict where the story will go, and who Taka ends up being, so the movie is pretty predictable, which robs of it of some tension and intrigue. And without that, the movie just falls flat.

I'd hate to say it's a boring movie, because it's still entertaining, but I was personally thoroughly bored by it. It's hard to enjoy a movie that feels so lazily assembled, and when you know how Disney operates these days as an empire, this movie just feels all the more inauthentic and insincere.

Content-wise, it's on par with The Lion King. There is some lion-vs-lion violence, and some semi-intense moments, like when Mufasa is washed away from his parents down a river and ultimately separated from them (why anyone didn't just follow the river to find him or for him to go back is a bit mindboggling when you stop to think about it). The final fight is a little intense, but you know Mufasa has to come out relatively unscathed, so that eliminates any life-threatening stuff right there. And there isn't any profanity to speak of, which is nice, but not surprising.

Overall, Mufasa: The Lion King is never more than just an "OK" sequel/prequel that never reaches a point that justifies it having even been made. Diehard Lion King fans will probably be less cynical and find something to enjoy about it, however.

Mufasa: The Lion King is available now at digital retailers. It comes with a decent amount of extras, including:

FEATURETTES

1. Finding Milele: The Making of Mufasa The Lion King
2. Songs of the Savanna
3. Ostrich Eggs with Timon & Pumbaa
4. Outtakes
5. "I Always Wanted a Brother" IRL
6. Protect The Pride

DELETED SCENES (Play All)

1. Who's the Mole Rat?
2. What Do You Feel in There?
3. Have Faith in Her
4. Taka's Dream

Song Selection (Choose from English, Spanish and French) [Play All]

1. "Milele (First Rain)"
2. "I Always Wanted a Brother"
3. "Bye Bye"
4. "We Go Together"
5. "Tell Me It's You"
6. "Brother Betrayed"