Guys, I went to see Mufasa, and here’s what I can say. The p..

Guys, I went to see Mufasa, and here’s what I can say. The plot is very simple: kid lion Mufasa gets lost and ends up joining another pride, where he befriends the leader’s son, Taka. Mufasa is braver and more straightforward, while Taka is cowardly and introspective. A hostile pride of white lions attacks their land, Mufasa kills the son of the rival pride’s leader, and in retaliation, the rival pride wipes out Taka’s pride. Taka and Mufasa flee together in search of new lands, pursued by the hostile pride seeking revenge. Along the way, the two fall out over a girl, and in the end, Mufasa becomes king, while Taka, who betrayed him during their journey, is renamed Scar and ends up a dependent outcast.

The film is presented as an epic parable, filled with pompous dialogue, mediocre “wisdom,” and dumbed-down comedic inserts for kids.

First of all, the film is stunningly beautiful, and the lions’ muscles look amazing. The lions are less realistic than in the first film—they have rich facial expressions that make their emotions believable. For me, Taka was a huge highlight, along with the depiction of the environment where he and Mufasa grew up. It does a great job illustrating how envy and discord grew between the two best friends, and it’s clear that their fallout wasn’t really about the girl—the seeds of their split were sown in childhood.

Taka was the heir, and his father raised him to believe a king must be cunning, ruthless, and lazy. Meanwhile, Mufasa was raised by a softer, wiser, and more industrious maternal figure who taught him the ways of the lionesses and how to hunt. When the hierarchical system collapsed, Mufasa’s skills and upbringing proved to be the most effective, while Taka—raised as a monarch for ideal circumstances—couldn’t handle the competition.

If this were a real historical story about kings, Mufasa’s reign would eventually end in failure since he wasn’t prepared for it. But this is a children’s movie, where virtues like bravery and honesty are prioritized over cunning and strategy, which is fine. The film does a good job showing how Taka became the Scar we all know from the original movie.

At the end of the film, Mufasa doesn’t exile Scar for his betrayal but allows him to stay, while declaring he will never speak his name again. This leaves Scar trapped in a psychological prison: he isn’t exiled, but he’s too cowardly to leave, and at the same time, he’s obviously unwelcome, pitied, and scorned. Over the years, this warped his character. What’s tragic is that Taka was originally a likable guy with great potential for growth. If Mufasa had been more merciful, Taka could have become his wise and cunning advisor. If Mufasa had been more responsible, he would have exiled the indecisive Taka, giving him a chance to start over.

Unfortunately, the main villain—the white lion—is absolutely terrible. He’s just generically evil, smirking, and muttering vague things against the circle of life. I don’t even understand why the circle of life was mentioned in this movie. In the original, it tied into the idea that hyenas disrupted nature by eating indiscriminately, breaking the balance. Here, everything looks vibrant and flourishing, and the whole “circle of life” talk feels irrelevant.

The ending, where Mufasa rallies all the herbivores against the white lions, is just insane. It would make sense if the white lions were destroying everything in their path, but they weren’t—they were specifically hunting Mufasa and left everyone else alone. The white lion is avenging his son, but the son is barely shown, and his death happens off-screen. There’s no emotional connection between the white lion and his son, and no one cares.

The songs in the movie are absolute garbage. I understand that music is subjective, but for me, these songs were just trash. They’re all the same—generic melodies with vaguely African vibes, sometimes more cheerful, sometimes less. They don’t come close to the original film’s iconic songs. On top of that, there are way too many of them, and given the heavy tone of the story, they feel completely out of place. The film is already too long and artificially stretched out, and the songs just make it worse. Every time a new song started, I wanted to die.

Overall, the film isn’t mature enough to fully and brutally explore the toxic dynamics of family systems and the pain of sibling rivalry. At the same time, it’s not childish enough to engage younger viewers with dynamic and straightforward conflicts. The songs, in my opinion, are completely forgettable. Because of the film’s length, kids in the theater started running around and whining. Next to me, there was a little girl who spent the whole movie sitting on her mom’s lap, whining that she was bored and scared. Then she started jumping, stomping her feet, and shaking the seats.

Honestly, I don’t understand why people bring their kids to public places if they know they can’t behave. There are plenty of alternative locations—a dumpster, a trash heap, an orphanage, etc.

All in all, I’d only recommend this movie for its visuals and to people who enjoy looking at furry characters—and yes, I count myself among them. I’m obsessed with these lions and their muscles. The landscapes and instrumental music (not the songs) are so gorgeous they made me want to cry. Otherwise, the movie is dumb trash. If you want a musical about brothers, go watch The Prince of Egypt instead.