The decades-old legendary tale of Walt Disney, The Lion King’s live-action film, received much love from fans. The makers continued the same visual style of the African Savanna with a more enhanced cinematic experience, bringing Mufasa: The Lion King. Yes! It’s out on Jio Hotstar. Let’s discuss if the new musical film lives up to expectations or not!
Way to Milele
The film features flashbacks narrated by Rafiki to Simba’s daughter Kiara. It delves into her epic grandfather Mufasa’s childhood, life, and quest to become the King of Milele. Mufasa gets separated from his parents, Masego and Afia, as a very young cub. Being swept away to a foreign land, he meets Prince Taka. His mother bonds with Mufasa, adopts him, and initiates the idea of finding mythical heaven, Milele.
After attaining the right age, Taka’s father feared that Mufasa might challenge his Heir and Royal Bloodline. However, with the entry of Kiros, the Snow Tiger, who is on the journey of vengeance, conquers the Kingdom. They start searching for Milele along with Sarabi. As both Taka and Mufasa fell in love with Sarabi, things took a turn to betrayal. What happens next is you should binge right away!
Visuals and Vibes
The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, is a prequel to the original tale of “The Lion King, Simba”. They carefully curated the themes of destiny & familial relationships with trials and twists that show how Mufasa is a great king, husband, father, and son. Also, the narrative of how Taka’s confusion and betrayal have turned him into Scar, full of hatred, added depth to the character’s value. Of course, it’s animals, but “facial expressions” are certainly missing in large parts. I felt emotions only in dialogues, which is a drawback.
Characters and Voice Artists
The reigning Mufasa character by Aaron Pierre is good. As for releasing in all languages, the dubbing artists were chosen from popular regional heroes. Like in Telugu, Mahesh Babu and Arjun Das, and in Bollywood, King Khan were the voice artists of Mufasa. This move has increased its popularity. Also, Walt Disney has mentioned special care in voice modulations, extensive shooting, and VFX to achieve the peak level of camerawork.
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Musicals and Animation
I don’t understand why Disney has a real obsession of Disney with only producing musical films these days. It’s a long shot. The music composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, along with the background of legendary Hans Zimmer’s tunes incorporated. It’s okayish, does work for kids but not adults. The franchise has memorable songs, but this doesn’t have any.
Final Verdict
The film runs on a slow note, emphasizing realism and character depth. Certainly a decent watch, especially for fans who love The Lion King. However, I hope they produce movies with language rather than musicals. It’s hard to succeed in films, especially with animals to express and align with overarching tunes. Yeah, do watch your siblings or kids together.
IMDb: 6.6/10 Rotten Tomatoes: 56% My Ratings: 3.5/5
Written by: Meghana Pinninti