Mufasa: The Lion King

 

I actually loved this movie. If you grew up with the original Lion King movies, this is a really sweet prequel. Mufasa is definitely a character we do not get to spend enough time getting to know in the original film, because obviously it's his death that sparks the entire plot of the movie. I also love villain origin stories, so to see Scar's backstory from beloved brother to his murderer is interesting to see play out on screen. 

I went to see this movie because there was simply nothing else in theatres and I had already seen everything else. What drew me in was that Lin Manuel Miranda wrote the original songs in this film and we love his work. This was no exception, the standout for me was "I Always Wanted a Brother" which has been stuck in my head for the past week. This is also my favourite scene of the entire film.

I liked that the story was told to Kiara (the daughter of Simba and Nala), Timon, and Pumbaa by Rafiki. It is a great way to include the beloved characters of the original film in a new story. I liked that this was not just a remake of the original films, but offered a new original story with some original characters, like a young Scar, Mufasa, and Sarabi. It was also fun to guess how he goes from orphaned lion to the king of the Pride Lands and one of the last lion kings in the region. The love triangle between the three of them is crazy too. I totally see that being the villain origin story of Scar, but he betrays his brother so fast the second Sarabi picks Mufasa over him. 

I love the casting of voice actors for this film, my favourites being Billy Eichner as Timon and Mads Mikkelsen as the voice of Kiros, the evil leader of the white lions. 

As much as I thought I was sick of the live action remakes of old Disney movies, I appreciate that this was not a remake and I actually loved the story. This movie is well done and was just a nice watch in theatres. Is it the best Disney movie ever? No, but it makes you feel good at the end and takes you back to the good old days of the original 1994 film.