Before reading this review, I highly encourage you to read my review of The Lion King (2019), as Mufasa: The Lion King is a direct sequel/prequel to this movie, and it does play a factor in my review of the film. Toward the end of my review, I speculated whether Disney would have the audacity to move forward with a sequel after the abysmal fan and critic reactions. However, critics play a tiny part in deciding whether to proceed with a sequel. Making over $1B in the total box office and acclaiming the title of the top animated film of all time for many years gave Disney all the more reason to move forward with a project no one asked for.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of The Lion King, mainly due to James Earl Jones’s performance as Mufasa. After losing James this past year, I’ve become even more protective of Mufasa as a character, but I understand I have no actual say in what’s done with him. That being said, I made sure to put my personal bias aside going into this movie, just as I did with the first film 5 years ago. I came out of this one slightly happier than The Lion King (2019), but that’s really the bare minimum to make a better movie.

Just as the first film was, Mufasa: The Lion King is a photorealistic animation movie, but it’s meant to look like live-action. One thing that everyone agreed on with the first film is that the scenery was gorgeous. Thankfully, Mufasa keeps that going, and I dare say it’s an even more beautiful film than The Lion King (2019). The colors are more vibrant, and the animation is smooth.

The greatest improvement was the expressions of the characters. The characters in The Lion King (2019) came off as impassive since Disney intended to make the film mirror live-action as much as possible. It didn’t work at all and really hurt the film. This time around, the characters’ faces actually convey their emotions, and not in a subtle way. It’s clear when the characters are happy, mad, sad, etc. It’s something that the original animated movie benefitted from and does help make the movie more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, while they improved significantly in the expressions area, the music is another story. The music is by far the worst part of the movie. Sure, I Always Wanted A Brother may have become a sensation with the general audience, but there are no other memorable songs. Even the instrumentals don’t work for me. I don’t get an African or Swahili vibe, and it really sticks out.

The story does not sound like it will work on paper, and more importantly, it should not be considered canon. This story is not meant to be regarded as the same as the animated story and is strictly for the “live-action” Lion King series. In this series, Mufasa becomes orphaned due to a great flood and is found and saved by another lion cub named Taka, who would come to be the lion we know as Scar and a prince. Taka’s mother, Queen Eshe, took Mufasa into their pride, while Taka’s father, King Obasi, was vehemently against it as he didn’t trust any outsiders. As Taka and Mufasa grow together, a tragedy happens, and they are forced to venture out on their own for survival. This journey sets the path for Mufasa to become the king of the Pride Lands instead of Taka, as was his birthright. And while this may be called Mufasa: The Lion King, this is as much Scar’s movie as it is Mufasa’s.

Before continuing, I will use Scar’s real name throughout the review. Although he did kill my favorite character, his real name is highly disrespectful, and his parents had to have hated him when they named him. Taka is the Swahili word for waste or garbage. If you ask me, that should be Scar’s real villain origin story. Sadly, his villain origin story is cliché and a pathetic attempt to garner sympathy from the audience for a character that doesn’t deserve redemption. Again, I write these words with no bias. I hate Scar for what he did to Mufasa in The Lion King, but here’s the thing. There was no sign that Scar had any ounce of good in him. He was a liar, manipulator, murderer, selfish, just the absolute worst a character could be. So, this attempt to Maleficentify Scar made no sense to me when it was reported that Scar was supposedly the rightful heir to the throne.

Mufasa: The Lion King switches between past and present, as Rafiki tells this story to Kiara, Timon, and Pumbaa while Simba and Nala welcome their newborn into the world. While I enjoyed Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King (2019), they felt really annoying this time. They were selfish, trying to insert themselves into a story they didn’t have a place. Of course, Rafiki wouldn’t allow any of it, but they just weren’t funny to me, and it’s a shame because Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner had fantastic chemistry the first time around. However, the rest of the characters meshed together reasonably well. Not only do we see Mufasa and Scar’s journey, but Sarabi, Zazu, and Rafiki are also featured. It’s an all-star cast, and they all did a great job. Tiffany Boone was phenomenal in her role as Sarabi. She captured Sarabi’s fierceness and attitude from the original animated film and truly brought it to life as the future Queen of the Pride Lands. Kelvin Harrison Jr. worked well to capture Scar’s jealousy and conniving personality. Rafiki’s two voice actors, Kagiso Lediga and John Kani, were excellent. They were so excellent that I had no idea that he was voiced by two different actors as a young and old character because he sounded the same throughout the movie. Preston Iyman took over for the role of Zazu, and he didn’t annoy me as much as the first film, but I’ll credit the writers for that.

Blue Ivy Carter makes her debut as Kiara in this movie, and while she did a great job at delivering her lines, whoever wrote for the character didn’t seem to grasp Kiara as a character. They kept presenting her as this scared little cub worried about her parents when she’s never been featured that way in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride or The Lion Guard. It was repetitive, from beginning to end, but maybe she’s younger than she’s been depicted, and that’s where those traits come from.

Aaron Pierre – he’s NOT Mufasa. Look, he voiced the character in this movie and did a great job with line delivery. But it wasn’t Mufasa. The voice wasn’t deep enough. It didn’t get close enough to the hubris that James Earl Jones had when he voiced Mufasa. We were treated to a recording of James at the very beginning of the film, and it made me so happy to hear it. But I don’t understand how Aaron Pierre’s Mufasa doesn’t do it when he has the voice for it. I can hear it clear as day when he speaks in his regular British accent. But putting on the American accent takes away some of the bass and, unfortunately, detracts from the role.

Mads Mikkelson was the villain, Kiros, and the leader of The Outsiders. Kiros wanted to be the sole king of everything and was on a mission to kill all other lion prides. Mads was okay. I personally wish the villain had a deeper voice, but the sinister tone came through regardless. He was ruthless, and it was hard to see how Mufasa would win. Kiros is another lion that deserves no form of redemption. He’s pure evil, plain and simple. No further exploration into his past is needed.

Another issue that the film’s main character suffers from is a new ability or power bestowed upon him. Mufasa has significantly heightened senses, to the point where he can smell precisely how far away his adversaries are or where another lion is from by the smell of their fur. This gives Mufasa and his group a significant advantage in staying ahead of his enemies while on the run. However, this ability now presents a plot hole for The Lion King (2019) and is the sole reason why this movie should not be considered canon to the animated film one bit. If Mufasa had this ability, why didn’t it help him during the stampede against the wildebeest? He should’ve been able to sense it and save Simba in time, thus stopping Scar’s plan. I don’t believe that age weakens the senses to the point where they’re just gone, so it creates an issue where Mufasa’s death wasn’t necessary at all and ultimately shouldn’t have happened.

Scar being made to garner sympathy didn’t sit right with me, and it still doesn’t. I’m not saying that characters don’t deserve redemption or sympathy, but make it make sense. And let it be unique and break the mold. Maleficent worked because it was new, showing that she wasn’t just some evil villain upset she didn’t get invited to a party. Scar’s path has been set and explored plenty of times, with it being clear that his hatred and anger stemmed from his jealousy of being in Mufasa’s shadow as children. There are books, comics, and even The Lion Guard touched on Scar’s origin in a much better way than Mufasa: The Lion King. Life wasn’t kind to Scar, but I refuse to give him a pass because he had a choice, and he very well could’ve chosen the other path.

Mufasa: The Lion King is a good movie. I’m happy to say that because I don’t want anything associated with The Lion King to fail or do horribly. It beat Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in the overall box office, and that’s an incredible feat because the fans have finally been humbled. While there were some issues with the story and portrayal of fan-favorite characters, the story worked and did a great job moving the story forward. Ending the story by introducing Simba and Nala’s son has me on the edge of my seat because the character should be none other than Kion from The Lion Guard. And while The Lion Guard was touted as a children’s show, it was pretty dark and did an outstanding job of expanding the world of The Lion King while explaining why Kion was nonexistent in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.

While Kion is hopefully being teased, Mufasa: The Lion King also set the stage for The Outsiders to reappear in the future. I don’t recall all of the lions meeting their doom, and The Outsiders were the villains of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, so we’ll see if they have a future. We know another film is in the works. I’ll never understand why, but I already know I’ll be checking it out. Hopefully, it continues improving, but let’s get the music right. Everything should work in sync, like the Circle of Life.