As the British-stereotype in old movies used to say: bloody good show! I don’t know why, but the words just blurted out of me at the end of Mufasa: The Lion King, the Barry (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) Jenkins-directed original continuation of Jon Favreau’s live-action remake of the Disney animated masterpiece The Lion King.

Mufasa doesn’t have any British or Americans, but there are white-skinned predators in the form of a pride of evil white lions whose leader, Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), wants bloody revenge for the death of his son… and, like all mad despots, wants to be the absolute ruler of the lands.

For a film about life and a lot of death, there is little — if any — actual blood spilled in Mufasa; one guesses that has more to do with its PG rating than anything else. Surprisingly (and thankfully), Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay doesn’t include present-day narrative-tweaking to make the film appealable for the niche, agenda-prone fraction of the audience. This story is good, if predictable, and it flows like the river — but not the dangerous kind that we see in the film.

Mufasa is the story of the young cub (Braelyn and Brielle Rankins voicing the young, and Aaron Pierre playing adult), who is separated from his father and mother, becomes a stray and joins a surrogate family in a docile and kind-hearted pride (voices of Thandie Newton and Lennie James), where he also finds his best-friend-cum-brother-in-name Taka (voices of Theo Somolu and Kelvin Harrison Jr as the young and adult, respectively).

The story is good, if predictable, in Mufasa: The Lion King and it flows like the river

Taka’s and Mufasa’s journey as brothers, the latter’s romance with another stray lioness (Tiffany Boone as Sarabi), his quest to find the fabled land of Milele (the eventual mountain peak that’s home to the lions in TheLion King) and his prophetic calling as the “Lion King” of the land, becomes the main plot-points in this musical (Dave Metzger and Nicholas Britell score the film with Lin-Manuel Miranda taking over song duties).

The songs aren’t memorable, but they are fine and undistracting in Jenkins’ overall sensitive and emotional storytelling as director.

Initially, I was a tad reluctant about the constantly sweeping camera-work in this near-photorealistic computer-generated film, but it definitely assists the lithe pacing of Nathanson’s screenplay.

I have always found Nathanson’s screenplays delicately balanced — he wrote Speed 2, Rush Hour 2 and 3, Tower Heist, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, and this film’s predecessor (technically speaking, Mufasa is The Lion King’s predecessor, but you know what I mean). His films are simple, engaging and carry some emotional heft without the fake, studio-manufactured tone of most big commercial films.

This deftness gives Mufasa an advantage over other films this year — and please, Disney, don’t take the following words seriously — and makes one want to see another original part of Mufasa’s journey.

Actually, just this once, Disney, if you guys are reading this, go ahead and make a continuation of this one — but only if it is just as good.

Released by Disney and HKC, Mufasa: The Lion King is rated PG and also features fan-favourite characters Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu and the voice of the late great James Earl Jones, who shall forever be the undisputed Lion King, Mufasa

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 5th, 2025