cstephens2Dec 20, 2024
With much trepidation and hesitancy, I saw #MufasaTheLionKing yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised that I generally liked it. I am decidedly not a fan of the Disney mandate to remake animated features as "live action", especially when the so-called live action is more CGI than live. And while I can completely accept talking and singing animated animals, it was very jarring to me to have talking and singing animals in an otherwise concerted effort to make a realistic film. /1
Show threadcstephens2Dec 20, 2024

First off, while most tributes in film are done at the end of a movie, I appreciated that an absolutely perfect tribute is put at the beginning.

I had been concerned when I'd heard about a particular plot point in this film. Turns out, the marketing and many of the movie posters contain an absolute lie, which I have no idea why Disney's marketing department thought was necessary to do. /2

Show threadcstephens2

They did a good job with creating an origin story for #Mufasa , and the cinematography on this film is absolutely gorgeous. Director #BarryJenkins is what gave me some hope for this film, and I'm glad I was not wrong. In making this a prequel film, it definitely avoided many of the pitfalls that plague simple live-action retellings.

No surprise that #JohnKani is terrific as #Rafiki , and #MadsMikkelsen is wonderful as the villain. /3

Dec 20, 2024 at 7:34pmWeb
Show threadcstephens2Dec 20, 2024
The characters who are there really for just comic relief completely fell flat for me. And the biggest disappointment for me is that none of the new songs come close to rising to the level of the iconic songs in #TheLionKing . #MufasaTheLionKing #Mufasa /4
Show threadcstephens2Dec 20, 2024

I did not have on my bingo card that Taka / Scar exhibiting incel tendencies would be one of his reasons to turn on Mufasa. That's one plot point I disagreed with and would have preferred it had been omitted. Sarabi was never his possession.

/5 end