While Nala (Beyoncé) is busy giving birth, Simba
(Donald Glover) leaves his daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter) in the care of
Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), who are there to be annoying as Rafiki
(John Gani) tells Kiara the story of how her grandfather Mufasa (Aaron Pierre)
became king. We are told he was talking out of his rear end when he told Simba he
came from a long tree of royalty, as this Mufasa is a stray who grew up with
Taka, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., the actual heir to the throne. Amato said,
“Taka, here rendered a petulant incel, grows up to become Scar and kill his
brother, before Simba knocks him off Pride Rock and his hyenas eat him. Circle
of Life!”
Honestly, there is no point getting into this. Amato
said, “This review mostly exists to register my continued disgust with the
Disney machine, pumping out garbage like this while trapping talented -if
clearly naive- directors in their cogs. Barry Jenkins could have been doing so
much more than giving us lifeless close-ups of ugly lions doing nothing.” “Mufasa:
The Lion King” was always going to look horrible, but Jenkins does at least try
to get some nice shots in. Unfortunately, this film is about two hours too
long. Amato said, “Somehow this movie even features the creation of Pride Rock,
something I just assumed happened long before these dead lion puppets moved in.
Guess not!”
Jenkins can only hope that this film goes the way of
the other Disney live-action remakes and disappears from the collective consciousness,
never to be seen again. Amato’s rebuttal, “Unless, of course, you are a Barry
Jenkins completist and need to watch this for a full retrospective, a permanent
humiliating stain on the filmography of one of our most promising American
directors.”
Amato continued, “I had nowhere else to put this so
let’s end here: a not insignificant part of the film’s first half focuses on
Mufasa’s infatuation with his stepmom, a relationship that feels more romantic
than the one with Simba’s eventual mother. Not sure why Rafiki needed to tell
this to his granddaughter, but it’s more of a question for the screenwriters,
I’d say.” If you ever do rewatch this, and you shouldn’t, you’ll feel the Oedipal
Love right away. That is uncomfortable.
Like I have stated in practically every live-action
Disney remake, this has to stop. However, the lions are more expressive this
time around, and the look of the movie is beautiful, but who was really asking
for a prequel to know of Mufasa’s origin. Who cared about that so much? Not
anyone that I can think of, that’s for sure. We have Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen,
Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Preston Nyman (replacing John
Oliver), and Keith David in here as well. Don’t watch this on Disney+ because
this is not good. Maybe there are people out there who love this movie, but I
don’t recommend this at all. People might think this is ok, but I’m more in the
category of this not worth seeing.
Tomorrow I will be doing my first TV miniseries review
of the month in “Disney Month 2025.”
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