Review – Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

April 8, 2025

4 minutes

Mufasa: The Lion King is an entertaining movie that is surprisingly good when it’s not going out of its way to establish direct connections to The Lion King (2019). The movie is an origin story and exploration of the titular character’s history as the first king of the Pride Lands.

While unnecessary, the frame narrative of Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) telling Mufasa’s story to princes Kirara (Blue Ivy Carter), the daughter of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter) to pass the time and calm her nerves during a thunderstorm is rather cute.

The addition of Timon and Pumba was another pleasant surprise. Seth Rogan and Billy Eichner return as the iconic Warthog and Meerkat to provide comedic relief and commentary on Rafiki’s story while also telling a couple stories of their own – their rendition of Scar’s demise did have me laughing out loud.

The story begins with Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) as a cub, whose parents take him to the local watering hole. A flash flood separates Mufasa from his family leaving him to fend for himself. Prince Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and his mother Eshe (Thandiwe Newton) find and rescue Mufasa from a crocodile. The pair bring him back to the pride and offer to raise him despite King Obasi’s (Lennie James) rule of eating strays.

Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) leads a pack of bloodthirsty lions on a mission to become the only lion king. On the run, Mufasa and Taka go in search of the paradise Milele. Their adventure eventually leads them to encounter Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), Zazu (Preston Nyman) and Rafiki.

Mufasa: The Lion King showed a lot of promise early on, but ultimately the story goes in one ear and out the other much like its original songs. The movie isn’t great but at the very least it’s a new story, which is a lot more than I can say with the recent trend of shot-for-shot remakes such as the upcoming How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch.

Nothing in Mufasa has any staying power and, coupled with the movie being overly stuffed with story ideas, things are bound to get bogged down. The choices to rush past the more interesting plot details is an odd one. It’s never in favor of establishing prior Lion King lore so much as it’s used to sum up multiple origin stories. Sarabi is a princess also on the run from Kiros’s group, yet her story is relegated to dialogue versus the scene in which Rafiki is sent away from his tribe – even that sequence feels rushed.

The voice acting is rather good. While no one could replace James Earl Jones, Pierre at times does emulate Jones’s majestic voice. However, it’s Mikkelsen’s Kiros who is perfectly cast. Kiros and his pride are a great addition to the Lion King lore. The issue with Kiros is that, outside of his initial introduction, he quickly slips into the stereotypical Disney villain mould. Even his song “Bye Bye” softens up his characterization.

As previously stated, the original songs are good in the moment such as “Milele,” “We Go to Together,” or “Tell Me It’s You,” but they aren’t catchy enough to get stuck in your head – with the possible exception of “I Always Wanted a Brother” which gets trapped in your head more for the annoying way Taka pronounces “bruh-THAH” than anything else. Not all Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work can be winners, but this collection of songs is undeniably forgettable.

Another aspect of Mufasa that drove me crazy was the lack of closure. By the end, we’re introduced to Simba and Nala’s newest addition and Kiara’s brother, yet it’s odd that his name is withheld from the audience, much like Mufasa’s parents. Even with Simba and Nala not being around for Rafiki’s story, one would think they would name him after Simba’s father.

“Whenever you feel alone, the Great Kings of the Past will always be up there to guide you, and so will I,” is one of the more touching moments from the original movie, yet this movie bastardizes that lesson as we’re told that Mufasa is the first king of the Pride Lands. I’m sure Disney can’t wait to introduce the next lion king, but they may want to slow down a little before they trample the legacy of the original underfoot.

Rating: 2.5/5.