Shadows on the Wall | Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King

dir Barry Jenkins
scr Jeff Nathanson
prd Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski
voices Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Tiffany Boone, John Kani, Blue Ivy Carter, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Preston Nyman, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Donald Glover, Beyonce Knowles-Carter
release US/UK 20.Dec.24
24/US Disney 1h59

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Using photoreal animation, this prequel hits the expected notes to recount the epic tale of Simba's father. It's watchable and sometimes involving, but there's a problem with this kind of imagery, which uncannily looks like live-action but also clearly isn't. And Lin-Manuel Miranda's pop-flavoured new songs feel thin compared to Elton John's memorably robust numbers. Still, director Barry Jenkins leans into the story's beefier aspects to pull us in.

Separated from his parents by a flood, Mufasa (voiced by Pierre) is rescued by Taka (Harrison), and they are raised as brothers. But even though he's a prince, Taka never feels like he lives up to Mufasa's shining promise. When a pack of vicious white lions led by Kiros (Mikkelsen) attacks, Mufasa leads Taka to safety. Along the road, they are joined by capable she-lion Sarabi (Boone), her scout hornbill Zazu (Nyman) and the wise mandrill Rafiki (Kani). But Kiros is hunting them, and won't stop until they're no longer a threat to his rule.

All of this is framed as a story the older Rafiki recounts to young Kiara (Carter), Mufasa's granddaughter, while her parents Simba and Nala (Glover and Knowles-Carter) are away and she's being looked after by the comedy double-act of meerkat Timon (Eichner) and warthog Pumbaa (Rogen). Because this is a prequel, the screenwriters feel the need to set up virtually every element in the original film, from Rafiki's staff to Taka's scar to the origin of Pride Rock itself, a moment that's more than a little contrived.

Everyone also has to break into song every now and then, which takes some getting used to in this realistic animation style. The vocal cast is solid, adding emotion and intelligence to the dialog. And the animators resist the temptation to anthropomorphise these creatures too much, although this does sometimes present a problem as we try to keep track of characters in large-scale action set-pieces. Indeed, our plucky heroes encounter serious peril at carefully judged intervals along the road.

In other words, all of this is severely constructed. Nothing happens organically, while each section of the story is carefully designed to show off something new (such as a perilous trip through icy mountains). Yes, the skilled animators are doing extraordinary work here, creating real-life settings that are populated with a range of colourful animals. The big action, offhanded humour and surging emotions will keep audiences happy. It's just a shame that it's not a bit more ambitious and meaningful.

themes, violence 15.Dec.24

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