If, on a scale of one to ten of strange director-project pairings we had Shawn Levy directing Night at the Museum 3 as one, and Nicolas Winding Refn directing episodes of Miss Marple at ten, then Barry Jenkins directing a photo-realistic sequel-prequel to 2019's The Lion King remake would probably come in at an eight, maybe nine.
Given that Jon Favreau's 2019 photo-realistic (not live-action, it's all CGI) re-telling of the 1994 original made an obscene amount of money without changing too much, it seems only natural that Disney would get the gears turning on a sequel. Disney's remakes of their animated films have been a mixed bag, but the pairing of auteur filmmakers — Tim Burton, Bill Condon, Guy Ritchie, Robert Zemeckis and now Jenkins —with classic stories has seen big financial rewards for the House of Mouse with the occasional good film for good measure.
Mufasa: The Lion King decides to do a Godfather II, with the story of how young Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) went from an orphan to adopted brother of Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr), the lion who would one day be known as Scar.
From the off, this film has the feel of a direct-to-vhs sequel that populated the Disney brand in the 90s. The expensive, and incredibly lifelike CGI animals bely a very simple, and at times rather boring story about how one noble guy becomes even nobler and one bad guy becomes badder thanks to an even worse guy – but they're lions.
Jenkins direction is confident given that nothing in Moonlight or If Beale Street Could Talk suggested he had a flair for big CGI vistas, but the landscapes and the fur are all incredibly well realised. But a story like this simply doesn't work in photo-realistic “live action”. Whereas apes have emotive human-like faces, the same cannot be said for lions. It can work in animation where the suspension of disbelief allows you to buy into exaggerated expressions, but here, the death, fun and emotion is muted as the animals simply can't emote in the same way. It's an ongoing issue for Disney's live actions films, where fish and lions can't convey any emotional depth. It's never going to work.
Beyond that, the talented musicians Lin-Manuel Miranda and Nicholas Brittel can't do much to boost the film. Despite a great villain song in Bye Bye, sung with gleeful malice by Mads Mikkelsen as an evil white lion, the songs aren't particularly memorable. The fun ensemble song We Go Together is perfectly serviceable but given the iconic nature of the original's songs, these just aren't up to scratch. The film works best when the score borrows heavily from Hans Zimmer's original and there's a welcome return from South African composer and performer Lebo M, the voice of the African Savannah so to speak.
It's not soulless, Jenkins could never do something without heart. But it feels unnecessary. Quite why Disney's franchise fare required the prestigious hand of the Oscar-winning Jenkins is difficult to fathom given the film's reliance on exposition and comic interludes that could have theoretically been done by any hack.
It's not as bad as the 2019 film, with Mufasa at least trying to do some interesting things – including Simba and Nala's daughter Kiara or using the name Taka for Scar, though The Lion Guard fans may balk at the shunning of Askari as a name. Even so, it simply doesn't need to exist. They may have had better luck redoing Simba's Pride. Just more content to eventually catch on Disney+.
Mufasa: The Lion King is in cinemas from 20th December
