I say that as a joke but I had genuinely intended to see Sonic 3 but as it was sold out and I was already at the cinema I saw Mufasa instead.
Mufasa is another attempt by Disney to capitalise on the success of their films of yesteryear. The Lion King is without doubt amongst the best animated films of all time and with Disneys attempts at creating original works in recent years flopping, here's another Lion King film that no one asked for.
Pumbaa, Timon and Rafiki are tasked with looking after the son of Simba and Nala, a young cub named Kiara. They tell the young cub the origin story of her Grandfather Mufasa in order to keep her occupied. This story plays out on screen and intermittently cuts back to the present day.
Having a present day aspect with the whole of the main narrative taking place in the past only serves to pad out the run time which isn't really needed considering it's a two hour film. They could have cut those parts, got us straight into the action and been around the 90 minute mark which is always a good aim when your target audience is children/families. That being said however I understand how that would've meant that we loose Timon and Pumbaa in the process. Whilst I appreciated them being in the film for nostalgias sake they didn't add anything to the narrative. The film used them as a kind of post modern comic relief in between the action which to be honest wasn't needed.
The thing that's given the original Lion King film its legacy is how iconic the songs are. This is something no film in the franchise has been able to replicate and this one is no different. My foot was taping along to some of the tracks but ultimately it's not a soundtrack I'm ever going to revisit and plays a big part in the fact that I'm unlikely to ever watch this film again either.
There are a couple of saving graces however. The visuals for one are exceptional, it's almost like watching a David Attenborough documentary at times. I felt like I could almost step out of the auditorium and into the pride lands.
The narrative also showed some promise towards the beginning. I was genuinely interested for a minute into how Mufasa and Taka's relationship was going to pan out. Then it turned into a road movie where they picked up other Lion King characters on the way and their relationship took a back seat however. The two lead characters inevitably end up conflicting but the reason behind the conflict was about as obvious as it gets. I won't spoil it but what do you think is most likely to cause a fight between two male friends?
Yep, you got it.
Overall there's just better films to take your young ones/family to see at the cinema at the moment. If you're a die hard Lion King fan or are just curious for whatever reason, perhaps wait till it releases on Disney Plus.
