Mufasa: The Lion King movie review: The astounding visuals & desi story make this prequel a fun watch

Cast: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, and Blue Ivy Carter

Director: Barry Jenkins

The 1994 animated classical The Lion King, which was remade in 2019 with the same by using photorealistic animation, enjoys cult status as it takes cinegoers down memory lane with its nostalgic and fantasy-tical storytelling. While the story of Simba is well-known, the plot of Mufasa (Simba’s father) is unexplored. That’s why right from the inception of this project, I was curious to know the backstory of this character, who is remembered by his tribe as one of the greatest leaders. So, does it live up to the expectations and hype? Let’s find out…

The plot starts with Simba (Donald Glover) the king of Pride Lands and his daughter Kiara talking as he is on his to get back her queen Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), who is pregnant with his second child. Simba keeps Kiara with Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and tells them look after her but without telling her their weird stories.

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While Timon and Pumbaa fail to entertain Kiara as she misses her parents, Rafiki (John Kani) arrives and narrates the origin of her family’s legacy and his grandfather Mufasa.

A playful and young cub Mufasa (Braelyn and Brielle Rankins) is loved by everyone along with his parents Masego (Keith David) and Afia (Anika Noni Rose). Afia always talks about Milele, a place beyond the horizon, which is beautiful and completes the circle of life.

One day, due to floods in his kingdom, Mufasa gets separated from his parents and through the force of the river he lands in another kingdom, where he meets Taka (cub’s voice Theo Somolu), who saves him from a crocodile. While Taka’s mother Eshe (Thandiwe Newton) shows affection towards Mufasa, his mate and king of pride Obasi (Lennie James) calls him an outsider and stray and refuses to include him in his pride.

However, he soon joins Eshe and learns hunting and other skills. As they grow up, the bond becomes super strong between Mufasa and Taka. However, one day Kiros’ (the formidable leader of a pride of white lions known as outsiders) army tries to attack Nala. While Taka gets scared and runs from there, Mufasa fights them bravely killing Kiros’ son Shaaju.

As Eshe and Obasi know that Kiros and his army will come to seek Shaaju’s revenge, they tell Mufasa and Taka to run and start their new life. In this adventurous journey, we see the self-discovery of Mufasa from no one to a great king. But wait! How, is Mufasa and Taka’s bond affected and the latter turns his biggest enemy as Scar? Well, for that you have to watch Mufasa: The Lion King on the big screen.

The plot of Mufasa looks like a typical Bollywood plot from the 80s and 90s. However, the astounding visuals give you an immersive experience.

For me, the biggest letdown of the film is that it just brushes through the characters without exploring the emotional dynamics and depth. Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa is enjoyable but nowhere close to The Lion King. The narrative is uniform without any high points, which somewhat makes it a draggy affair.

Talking about the voiceovers, every actor has done their part to the T but for me, the show stealer was Mads Mikkelsen with his impactful and vicious voice of villain Kiros.

On the whole, _Mufasa_ is a one-time watch only if you don’t compare it with its sequel.

For the unversed, Shah Rukh Khan voices the Hindi version of Mufasa: The Lion King

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Mufasa: The Lion King is set to hit the screens on 20th December