Mufasa: Le Roi lion

As a huge fan of The Lion King, I can honestly say this movie is excellent. The cinematography and music, especially in 3D IMAX are absolutely stunning. There wasn't a single boring moment and the visuals are breathtaking, you can read the animals' emotions much more clearly compared to the first live action film, the pacing is smooth and the plot holds up well. While I occasionally struggled to distinguish some lion characters, the voices made it easy to follow. A bit more humor would've been nice though but overall, it's a well crafted prequel that delves into Scar's origin beautifully. People seem too critical these days instead of just enjoying things.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. As a prequel that tells the rise of Mufasa, Simba's father, it is very formulaic and predictable. But it is also beautifully animated, quite funny, and emotionally well-balanced between adventure, drama, humour, and tragedy. For a prequel, it plays it sometimes too safe, but that is fine to me since the audience knows the conclusion of the story. The upside of playing it safe is that the movie thankfully avoids any major distractions or side characters that could have taken away from the meat of the film. My only major gripes are that the soundtrack is forgettable compared to the Elton John classics, and some of the plot development proceeds too quickly at numerous points in the story, which takes away from its intended emotional impact.

Nonetheless, let me repeat that I am surprised by how much I liked this film. I could not be bothered by the previous CGI adaptation at all. But as far as big studio prequels are concerned, this is one of the better ones. Sure, they clearly made the film for easy money, but miraculously it respects the Lion King fanbase and oozes love for the source material. Graphically, it is well-composed and it manages to find good use for CGI that gets close to the beauty of the original animation. And although it adds little to the story, it provides enough new context and meat to make the original story shine even brighter. Nothing can beat the 1995 original masterpiece, and this one obviously pales in comparison, but I am glad that they are treating the franchise with respect.

Pleasantly surprised. It wasn't the soulless cash grab people claimed-the movie has heart and plenty of story.

People love to hate on things and they will make this movie a target. This is why I feel obliged to tell you it's not that bad. If you like this type of movies, blockbusters, you will probably enjoy it; I know I did.

I feel like the CGI was on par with the first but they've definitely improved the expression of the animals (one of the biggest complaints from the first one).

One of the most obvious mistakes is that the movie should have been longer; the story feels cramped, and you can feel it on the pacing.

"less childhood trauma, more meerkat" is what I want for the threequel.

With the imminent disaster that is Snow White, waiting in the wings, the company needed a big hit.

I have no doubts that fans of The Lion King's many forms will flock to see it, and for kids and families, there is a definite appeal, I watched this movie about a week ago, and almost forgot to review it, that's the problem, it simply isn't memorable.

You get the impression that they played it super safe, it's just a little bland at times, it's hardly a film that'll be remembered as a classic. Sure it's a good story, but sometimes it just feels a little shoved together.

Amazing visuals, lovely music, you can't fault the production values of it at all.

It's a shame that James Earl Jones couldn't have been persuaded to at least feature, but it was nice that the film was dedicated to him.

A nice movie, just hardly memorable.

6/10.

This movie is BEAUTIFUL, but man do i hate musicals. There is a moment where tention grows as enemy approaches and the enemy starts some drag queen show that completely shakes the balance of the movie. Don't do that when makig movies!!! Why do you need this singing crap that makes movie seem like some sleezy bs, taking action into some weird, silly cabaret. This could be full action movie without the unnecessary musical parts. However, the movie is so beautifully made, with such a great voice acring, storytelling, it is still amazing. What I would do is give Elton John original song in ending credits.