While Mufasa: The Lion King looks pretty, it also suffers from weak music, a broken-up story, and a questionable portrayal of Scar’s origins.

Mufasa: The Lion King is better than the 2019 live-action remake of the animated classic, The Lion King. But if we are being honest, that movie did not set a high bar. As a shot-for-shot remake that brought nothing new to the table, it is by far my least favorite of the Disney live-action movies. I wanted to enjoy Mufasa. Knowing that technology has advanced and that this would be a completely new story piqued my interest. And then I watched it.
This movie explores the “untold origin” of Mufasa and Scar (formerly Taka). That said, it doesn’t exactly line up with the original film. In The Lion King, Mufasa comes from a line of nobility. It is mentioned. It is canon. However, in Mufasa: The Lion King, he is saved by Taka after being swept away from his parents. His family was not royalty, but Taka is the heir to the throne of his pack. Taka’s pride (reluctantly) takes Mufasa in, however, he is forced to live with the women (what a horrible fate…) and hunt with them instead of lying around all day with the men.

The song, “I Always Wanted A Brother” is sort of the “Hakuna Matata” of this film, meaning as Taka and Mufasa sing together, they grow up. This is the transitional song, and, unfortunately, the last time this movie is any good. There are bits and pieces of bright moments that shine through in the second and third acts, but for the most part, it just gets worse and worse.
Pretty instantly after they grow up, there is a major threat to their pride from outsiders – the lions who do not look like their families (they are albino lions) and so they are shunned. Obviously, this makes them extremely evil, terrifying, and vengeful against any other lions. Taka and Mufasa are sent off to continue the bloodline elsewhere – yes, because they don’t even live in Pride Rock yet. In fact, they aren’t even so sure it exists.

Along the way, they find Sarabi, whose pack has also been assaulted by the outsiders. She has Zazu with her, and the group pretty quickly decides it makes more sense for them to travel together, in search of paradise, instead of separately. Even though they should be miles ahead of the outsiders, the other lions continuously catch up to them way faster than they should.
The song, “Bye Bye”, which Kiros (the king of the outsiders) sings, is the worst of the bunch. The lyrics are childish – people at my screening were literally laughing at it. What happens after this song, presumably, is extremely dark. So much so that they do not even show it on screen, and only sort of hint to it.
Still, at least these animals emote, the lips (for the most part) line up with the dialogue spoken (even if the dialogue is lacking). They look good and the backgrounds look pretty. It also should be noted that the chemistry between Aaron Pierre (Mufasa) and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Taka / Scar) is great.

Kiros never really felt threatening to me. Perhaps that is because I knew that Mufasa, Taka/Scar, and Sarabi, were all going to make it out alive because of their roles in The Lion King. One of the things that bothered me the most, is that Taka’s “decent into evil” is nearly instantaneous (and the reasoning behind it is… offensive to say the least). In one split second, he is suddenly not the same character we have spent the entire movie with.
If you have listened to the songs, you know that one of the lines in “Brother Betrayed” is literally – “I’m next in line, she should be mine.” Sure Disney, women have no right to choose who they want to be with. They are clearly property for the royal men to decide what to do with.

Because Mufasa: The Lion King is actually a story being told by Rafiki, every so often we cut back to the cave, where he is talking to Pumbaa, Timon, and Kiara (Simba & Nala’s daughter). This is clearly meant to provide comedic relief, because every time we go there, Timon and Pumbaa make jokes about what has been going on in the story. These are sometimes meta (talking about going to see the Broadway show of The Lion King) and almost never funny.
In fact, these moments pull viewers out of the story every time they happen, doing the opposite of what they are likely there to do. This breaks up the plot, making it really hard to be invested.

Mufasa: The Lion King looks pretty, I will give it that. But it suffers from weak songs and too many decisions that alter the beloved classic. After the first twenty minutes or so, it starts to go downhill, and never goes back up. There are several plot holes and things that, honestly, just do not make any sense – especially knowing how The Lion King ends up. The movie clocks in at just under two hours, but it feels longer. Much longer.
All of that said, it is better than 2019’s The Lion King. See it for yourself when it hits theaters on December 20. Hopefully you enjoy it more than I did.
NEXT: September 5 Review: Completely Captivating, But Haunting

About Mufasa: The Lion King
“Mufasa: The Lion King” enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka–the heir to a royal bloodline.
The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny–their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
Mufasa: The Lion King comes to theaters on December 20.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.