The latest Lion King live-action prequel has almost arrived. But, the question is, is this new Disney film, Mufasa: The Lion King, worth seeing? If you loved The Lion King, will this prequel, all about Simba’s father deliver the goods?
The early buzz on the film is less than roar, and more of a whine. On Rotten Tomatoes right now, the film has a 60 percent score, which technically means that the movie is “fresh,” but the early reviews are a bit tepid over all. As Nicholas Barber says on BBC says “It’s as pointless as that description makes it sound.”
Meanwhile on MovieWeb, Julian Roman pointed out that it’s a “a good-looking film that rings hollow.” Meaning, in all fairness, Mufasa isn’t a bad movie, but perhaps one that is too long for very young viewers, and too overblown for those who loved the original Lion King back in the day.
Starring Aaron Pierre as the voice of Mufasa—the lion that we all know as James Earl Jones later on—the story of the film centers on Mufasa’s early friendship with Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who will later take up the name “Scar.” As you might remember, Scar is Mufasa’s adoptive brother, making him something like Loki to Mufasa’s Thor.
Directed by Barry Jenkins, the trailers for Mufasa look incredible The only question now is, whether or not folks want to sit through two solid hours of this eye-catching movie, just to learn why Scar later hated Mufasa so much. For the true believers, or someone who has never seen The Lion King, this could be great. But the rest of us might have to wait for it to hit streaming.
