Per Lin Manuel Miranda, the original LION KING was an “all-bangers, no skips album. Sadly, the same cannot be said about MUFASA, where the only no-skip song is “I Always Wanted a Brother.”
Jon Favreau’s life-like version of THE LION KING never needed an origin story. Sometimes, it’s better not to convert a perfect musical into a bland, technically astonishing film. And that’s what Barry Jenkins does as he follows in Favreau’s footsteps.
I won’t lie, I slept through parts of MUFASA, and it was the best nap I’ve had all year. Why? Because I didn’t miss anything. I’d wake up and know exactly where things were heading. From the opening scene with Timon and Pumbaa sitting down to hear a Rafiki story, I saw the writing on the wall and didn’t “feel the love tonight” while I watched.
As Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) awfully sings – “Bye Bye” to this dreadful live-action cash grab.
It’s available theatrical.