I'm hoping it will make around 500 million, and either lose money or break even. It looks like total trash. Disney has to learn from their mistakes and (like Captain Falcon says) do better. ... And if they're going to just do remakes and sequels, stay true to the originals. They are the better versions that will still be watched in a 100 years.
I enjoyed it, but I can see the critics roasting this in the reviews.
Spoiler free review from me…
The good -
Great animation ..much better than the last live action LK effort.
Lions have more emotive faces.
Some beautiful scenery and set up shots.
Plenty of eye candy.
A few interesting plot twists…nothing too overly surprising however.
Great musical score, and most of the songs were enjoyable with the exception of one IMO.
The not so good -
Lacking depth in some departments story wise.
A few cheesey moments, including one song segment.
Consistency of the story being told getting ‘interupted’ by comic relief segments.
Yet another modern Disney film that is a ‘one in done’ - enjoyable viewing that one time, but no real desire to view again.
Your mileage may vary…
-
I’ve said this for weeks with friends, but ‘Sonic 3’ is going to make stupid money this opening weekend and leave ‘Mufasa’ in the dust.
There is just NO ‘buzz’ for this film.
People don’t seem to be aware that it is even being released…is the marketing off?
The preview I attended earlier tonight had maybe 20 to 25 people in a small threate.
Not looking good….
But I enjoyed seeing it.
The visuals are pretty to look at and the music is good, but beyond that people are going to have differing opinions.
And that in itself is good.
Not seeing this as a blockbuster however.
I enjoyed it, but I can see the critics roasting this in the reviews.
Spoiler free review from me…
The good -
Great animation ..much better than the last live action LK effort.
Lions have more emotive faces.
Some beautiful scenery and set up shots.
Plenty of eye candy.
A few interesting plot twists…nothing too overly surprising however.
Great musical score, and most of the songs were enjoyable with the exception of one IMO.
The not so good -
Lacking depth in some departments story wise.
A few cheesey moments, including one song segment.
Consistency of the story being told getting ‘interupted’ by comic relief segments.
Yet another modern Disney film that is a ‘one in done’ - enjoyable viewing that one time, but no real desire to view again.
Your mileage may vary…
-
I’ve said this for weeks with friends, but ‘Sonic 3’ is going to make stupid money this opening weekend and leave ‘Mufasa’ in the dust.
There is just NO ‘buzz’ for this film.
People don’t seem to be aware that it is even being released…is the marketing off?
The preview I attended earlier tonight had maybe 20 to 25 people in a small threate.
Not looking good….
But I enjoyed seeing it.
The visuals are pretty to look at and the music is good, but beyond that people are going to have differing opinions.
And that in itself is good.
Not seeing this as a blockbuster however.
Well, I didn't hate Mufasa, which is itself a miracle, as the 2019 remake of The Lion King is one of my most despised films of all time. The biggest advantage Mufasa has over its predecessor is that it's an original story, so it's easier to judge on its own merits. In contrast, the 2019 Lion King kept inviting comparisons to the far superior 1994 animated classic.
I still think the photorealistic CGI approach is the wrong way to tell this type of story. While the animal characters show more emotions and expressions in Mufasa than they did in the 2019 abomination, they still aren't nearly as expressive as their traditionally animated counterparts.
The biggest issue I had with the story is that Taka (who becomes Scar) is a far more compelling character than Mufasa. Mufasa just doesn't have much personality in this movie, nor a very compelling arc. Taka's journey and his growing resentment of his adopted brother is really where the heart of the movie lies. I found myself surprisingly emotionally moved by the climatic scene
where Taka changes his mind and decides to save Mufasa.
I thought the framing device of Rafki telling the story of Mufasa to Kiara worked to kick off the movie. However, once we flash back to the past, we should have remained in the past until the end of the movie. The constant interruptions to the story so that Timon and Pumbaa could interject with painfully unfunny jokes kept taking me out of the movie and hurt the pacing. The Timon/Pumbaa scenes (which felt like they took up at least 10-15 minutes of the movie) could have been reallocated elsewhere, as there were several rushed plotlines and character beats.
More screentime was needed to flesh out:
1. Mufasa dealing with the loss of his parents. He got over it VERY quickly and it was jarring to see him singing about wanting a brother before he even acknowledged that his father might be dead.
2. Taka developing feelings for Sarabi. He seemed to have a crush on her, but I never bought that he was in love with her. As a result,
him turning against Mufasa over her choosing to be with him felt unearned.
3. Taka's growing bitterness/jealousy toward Mufasa. It felt like his entire personality shifted in the course of a single scene. The change needed to be more gradual and Taka needed to show more flaws and signs of snapping earlier on in the movie.
4. Sarabi and Mufasa's romance. It needed to be built up more. Their love song felt unearned.
I thought the songs were good, but their staging lacked creativity. Kiros had a nice villain song, but the visuals accompanying that scene were as bland as possible.
I also thought the need to establish how Pride Rock came to be shaped the way it is completely unnecessary. I assumed it had been like that for centuries. It didn't need an origin story.
Overall, I'd give it a 6/10. While that's not great by any stretch of the imagination, I hated the original 2019 movie so much that I still left the theater for Mufasa feeling pleasantly surprised. I definitely enjoyed it more than Moana 2.
I thought the framing device of Rafki telling the story of Mufasa to Kiara worked to kick off the movie.
However, once we flash back to the past, we should have remained in the past until the end of the movie.
The constant interruptions to the story so that Timon and Pumbaa could interject with painfully unfunny jokes kept taking me out of the movie and hurt the pacing.
The Timon/Pumbaa scenes (which felt like they took up at least 10-15 minutes of the movie) could have been reallocated elsewhere, as there were several rushed plotlines and character beats.
This, 100%.
Probably one of the top issues I had with the film.
Maybe it was felt needed to keep the kids in the audience engaged, but it was annoying after the third time and from then on.
Fully agree with the above.
This, 100%.
Probably one of the top issues I had with the film.
Maybe it was felt needed to keep the kids in the audience engaged, but it was annoying after the third time and from then on.
Fully agree with the above.
Idk, I think kids that would have still been engaged without Timon and Pumbaa constantly interrupting the story.
And while I did like the inclusion of Kiara (The Lion King II is one of the few direct-to-video sequels that isn't awful), I think she only needed to be in the opening 10 minutes of the movie and the final scene, after Rafiki wraps up the story. She didn't need an entire subplot dedicated to her constantly missing her parents, as it was a total distraction from the Mufasa/Taka story.
It reminds me of how, in the movie Titanic, James Cameron filmed several scenes with Old Rose and Bill Paxton in the present day that revolved around Paxton inquiring about the Heart of the Ocean. There was even an alternate ending filmed that wrapped up the subplot where Rose allows Paxton to hold the diamond before she throws it into the water. Cameron cut most of these scenes because he realized while editing, that once the story flashed back to 1912 , that audiences were invested in Jack and Rose romance and they no longer cared about the present day subplot revolving around the treasure hunt for the Heart of the Ocean. I wish Barry Jenkins had learned a similar lesson.
