Mufasa: The Lion King Movie Review: The worst backstory of all time

I’m sorry to say this, but watching Mufasa: The Lion King was like watching a film with no head or tail, whether be the music or the story. The movie lacked not just a strong story or a decently good song but also a narrative. 

From the get-go, the film starts with a narrative, where Simba and Nala are out, and their daughter, Kiara, is with Timon and Pumba, listening to a story narrated by Rafiki. The narrated story has a pace so quick it is unlike any other Disney film. Scenes went by within seconds, and now we meet Taka, who just randomly decided to call young Mufasa his brother. The pace isn’t even the biggest problem. It’s a lousy storyline.

The film was supposed to be the prequel to the original Lion King, setting up the story of how Mufasa became the king, why Scar hated his brother and who Rafiki was. This was supposed to set the history of the Pride Lands, which they refer to as Milele. But the story was so shallow like every decision and every character's introduction was blank. The only best part of the story was how the Pride Rocks, home to Mufasa, came into being. It was the only cinematic scene of the whole film.

Leaving the theatre and not remembering a single lyric says a lot of negative things about a film, especially a musical. All the tracks felt like they were trying to be the next Hakuna Matata, with no meaning or cultural impact on the real society whatsoever. The music was not catchy or singable. Throughout the film, the background score was way louder than the dialogue, so it was hard to even hear what they were saying or singing, especially when an unknown, unestablished language was constantly playing in the back. Also, most songs have overlapping lyrics, like We don’t talk about Bruno, but make it worse.

I know this review is this bad, but, sorry, the reason why Taka, aka Scar, hates his brother is just pure nuisance. A 20s Bollywood movie has a better twist than that. Also, Rafiki is the one with whom they did the most injustice because I still don’t know what his case is and why this mandrill gets vision.

As I said, the only good part is the last 10 minutes of the climax, where they show Pride Lands, aka Milele and how Mufasa got the jungle together in the Circle of Life while his destiny was able to shake the ground to make the Pride Rocks.

Overall, the film is not worth watching in the theatres, and it’s better to wait for it to come on Disney Plus. Even then, it's no more than a one-time watch film. 

ALSO READ: Wicked Movie Review: This Is How A Musical& Adaptation Should Be Made!