Directed by Oscar winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, Mufasa: The Lion King stars an ensemble voice cast of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Tiffany Boone, Donald Glover, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Blue Ivy Carter, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Serving as a prequel and sequel to the 2019 remake of the 1994 film, this film follows orphaned cub Mufasa when he meets Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. Their encounter sets them on a path, searching for their destinies.

The 2019 remake went and left, and I have still never felt like revisiting it. Yet, when I heard that Barry Jenkins would be directing a prequel to the story, I saw a lot of potential. The first trailer had me hyped, but the second trailer had me concerned as it tried to reveal more than what they should have. I still went in with high hopes, expecting this to be a film that would shock a lot of viewers. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest disappointments of the year.

Starting off with the positives, I do believe the voice acting from Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. will be talked about a lot. Most notably, I believe Pierre will be talked about most. We have seen his work in Rebel Ridge where he had a likable presence. There’s something about his voice that is fitting for the role of Mufasa.

I believe the other high point that many people will be talking about is the new music from Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical numbers never overstay its welcome. Each song seems to fit the tone the film is looking for. I am sure Miranda could make songs for anything and make it better. The music isn’t mind-blowing and it’s not something that I believe people will be humming for months to come, but Miranda still manages to bring a lot of life to the film.

When the film focuses on the past is where the film is at its strongest, and it’s clear it’s the reason why Jenkins signed on to direct. There’s something compelling about exploring how all of this came about. Jenkins excels as a director between the relationship of the two major characters. If the film focuses solely on these two characters, I believe the film would be even better. Oh, and the small tribute to James Early Jones was a nice touch.

It’s pretty clear where the rest of the film is going after the first act. Ironically, Timon & Pumbaa are there in the present as they recite what the viewers are thinking. Timon literally even says when the first act is over, which may be comical, but it also takes you out of this being a story worth visiting. To make matters worse, we are being told this story from a character that only knew half the story, making him the worst person to tell this story.

I am convinced the sequel plot line is only added for two reasons: give something that fans of the first will be comfortable with, and to give Beyoncé’s daughter a job. You take out the sequel storyline and you could get something that is more streamlined in the past. Because the movie often skips to the present, the past never gets the proper time to tell a natural story. The story jumps from plot point to plot point. The most important things don’t even truly happen until the third act. I unintentionally laughed when I saw Taka become Scar, the iconic mountain become how it is, and Mufasa finding someone important within a matter of minutes. It’s baffling illogical, which made me care even less about this story.

Since the film is having to skip between two plot lines under in under two hours, the film’s story and characterization is rushed. Characters make drastic decisions that makes them look like they are overrating than characters worth caring for. Taka goes to the dark side so fast. Sarabi quickly develops feelings for Mufasa. The film is in a rush to get to how we know them. It doesn’t matter how much time we spend with them in the beginning as Mufasa & Taka are friends. You can’t just suddenly have them be enemies, because that’s where the original starts.

I have a good feeling that this film would have been better had Jenkins also wrote it. He wrote another film, The Fire Inside, which had much stronger writing that felt more organic. Unfortunately, he is dealing with cliche after cliche. Characters say things like “They can run, but they can’t hide” & “Let me tell you a story.” The villain, who does absolutely nothing unique, even has dialogue that made my audience laugh instead of watching in fear. The film does have its humor. My theater often laughed, and even clapped. I think I only laughed once. Everything else felt forced and unnatural.

As for the technical components, the film is incredibly underwhelming and overstimulating. The camera consistently moves in different angles as it cuts to the next shot that has the camera moving in the opposite direction. I don’t even think a single shot lasted longer than five seconds. I haven’t felt this overstimulated from a film in a while that it had me often looking away from the screen to readjust my eyes. The film also looks unappealing from its balance & generic color palette and unrendered graphics. There are some locations & characters that look nice, but the most important aspects do not look great. The sound design also does the film no favors as it often has its score and sound effects overshadowing the dialogue.

Overall, Mufasa: The Lion King seems like it will win over family viewers, but it let me down. I went in with high expectations only to walk out feeling overstimulated and underwhelmed. I know Jenkins will be okay from all of this, because his character work is still great. The music is also quite catchy. Unfortunately, there’s so much that is left to be desired.

VERDICT: 2.5/5 (Okay)