 Director: Barry Jenkins Studio: Walt Disney Pictures Genre(s): Action Rated: PG (For some language and suggestive material) |
While many have approached Disney's "Mufasa: The Lion King" with surprise that the company would make the movie in the first place (with Academy Award-winner Barry Jenkins of "Moonlight" fame in the director's chair no less), my surprise in the project is that the company is still trying to pretend that this is a live-action movie. I mean, making a sequel to something that made over $1 billion is easy for me to understand. A PR team that is still trying to convince audiences that they managed to train lions to talk and sing...man, those guys clearly aren't getting paid enough to do what they do. Either way, we have a sequel to arguably the most unnecessary remake ever (right up there with Gus Van Sant's remake of "Psycho").
The fact that this isn't the worst film of the year (like the previous one was on my list) is already a significant improvement. The fact that there are moments of emotion and a catchy song or two also helps. If you pay extra to see it in 3D you'll get a visual experience on the level of James Cameron's "Avatar" and Robert Zemeckis's "The Polar Express." So, yes, there are things about this movie that I liked. Ultimately the film still fails in the sense that this is a story that didn't need to be told (and if it did, it likely needed to be less predictable and shorter than what we received).
While it may be commendable that Disney allowed Jenkins to play around with the lore by having Mufasa and Taka (who would later be known under a different name) not be blood brothers but, rather, a chosen family, is a choice that is at least interesting. That the antagonists are a real threat who are allowed to kill without remorse is also something you don't normally get in a Disney film these days. That the narrative is told as a story to plant the seeds for new characters in another sequel is, at least, a genius marketing move. Everything else though is rather predictable and by the numbers. It does bring up the old conflict I have where I wonder what's worse: a movie that is memorably bad or one that is conventionally forgettable.
The jury is still out on that one. At another point in the year, "Mufasa: The Lion King" may have gotten a mild recommendation from me (it is competently made if nothing else). However, it is being released alongside "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," a sequel that gives audiences genuine emotions as well as thrills. If that is too cartoony for you, "Wicked" is still one of the best films of the year (and still on a few premium screens to boot). If you can find it, "Flow" provides an animal experience just as visually interesting as this movie with more heart (despite the lack of dialog). Also, there is no Timon and Pumba (who were especially annoying in this). In the end, I can't find much wrong with "Mufasa: The Lion King," but I don't see much value in it either.
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