“孤児ムファサは、なぜ偉大な王になれたのか?”
仲睦まじく育ってきたムファサとタカはなぜ別の道を歩むことになってしまったのか、王家の血を引くタカではなく、なぜ孤児のムファサが王になったのか。『ライオン・キング』では明かされなかったシンバの父、偉大なる王ムファサの“はじまりの物語”が語られる。
製作費: $200,000,000 (300億円)
興行収入: $722,631,756 (1084億円)
推定収支: $522,631,756 (784億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: Barry Jenkins
脚本: ジェフ・ナサンソン
音楽: Dave Metzger
制作: Peter M. Tobyansen / Mark Ceryak / Adele Romanski
撮影監督: James Laxton
制作会社: Walt Disney Pictures
Rubbish poster aside, <em>'Mufasa: The Lion King'</em> is a success. I can't overlook that poster, how amateur can you get - it genuinely looks like something I'd whip up seconds before the deadline. Thankfully, the movie itself is very good, it's one I enjoyed quite a bit. The animation is class, the lions look amazingly majestic. I will say the white ones look a bit iffy, but that's nothing even close to a big issue. The voice cast are all perfectly good. Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr. (only now realising his character wasn't called Tucker... bit embarrassing on my part), John Kani et al. all merit props. The standouts for me, however, are Mads Mikkelsen and Lennie James - two actors I do love watching (or listening to, in this case), admittedly. Music-wise, it's not the strongest - I can't recall any of the songs, to be honest. That's not actually a terrible thing though, as it means none of the musical numbers grated on me either - and that's always a win in my books. Elsewhere, Timon & Pumbaa are unamusing and wasted, but at the same time are unnecessarily forced into this prequel/sequel. Obviously, this still falls far adrift of the beloved original animated film. Nevertheless, I'll hold it in higher esteem than the 2019 remake, even if I didn't overly mind that one to be fair. Oh, lastly, nice touch dedicating this to James Earl Jones at the get-go - was expecting it at the end.
They've been praying for rain for ages but are ill-prepared for when it finally comes and washes away the young "Mufasa" from the loving paws of his parents and out into the wilderness. Luckily, he is rescued by the friendly young cub "Taka" whose mother "Eshe" convinces his sceptical father "Obasi" to let her adopt him. The pair prove inseparable as they grow up, but the encroachment of a pride of angry white lions led by "Kiros" soon threatens their peaceful lives and forces the two to flee in search of a mystical land. Along the way they encounter the wily lioness "Sarabi" and her airborne early warning system "Zazu" and joining forces, have their work cut out for them crossing the snowy mountains. The whole story is regaled by the sagely "Rafiki" to a young cub "Kiara" and the underused, rough-round-the-edges, warthog/meerkat combo of "Pumbaa" and "Timon" so we know the ending all along. Not that jeopardy is in anyway the point here, it's not that kind of Disney film. It's really just a fairly shameless rip-off of the first, far superior, film that though it looks great with all the integrated live-action visuals has a story that's cheesily wafer thin. It's purpose is to set out the origins of the "Lion King" (1994) but all it really does is remind us of just how good that was and just how average this one is. They keep referring to the "Circle of Life" but barring a few meanderings from the orchestral score into the songs from the past, we are simply left with some banal offerings from Lin-Manuel Miranda best summed up by "Bye Bye" - straight from the Janet and John book of rhyming "seas" with "trees". Certainly, it looks great but it's also quite confusing whom it's for. The kids watching in the cinema with me were quickly bored by the undercooked story once the awe of the visuals had worn off. It's all perfectly watchable and is quite a testament to the arts of those in the CGI department well worthy of the big screen, but it's all instantly forgettable fayre that just sort of rolls along towards it's rousing denouement unremarkably.
Great movie. Story's amazing and CGI never been so good before. I mean great visuals. To be honest, I didn't see any flows in this movie. It's perfect.
