Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters tomorrow. But how good is the new Disney movie? And is it suitable for the whole family? Here you can find out everything about the reviews and the FSK.
Before the year draws to a close, Disney is bringing a new movie to the cinema – and it’s not just any movie. No, Mufasa is based on one of the biggest Disney hits of all time: The Lion King. A remake of the 1994 animated classic was released back in 2019. Now the next adventure is coming.
The Lion King, to give the new film its full title, is both a sequel and a prequel – with a clear focus on the past. How did the young, helpless Mufasa become the wise, brave lion king we know from the original? Now we get to hear his story.
How good is Mufasa: The Lion King? That’s what the critics say about the new Disney movie
Opinions about Mufasa: The Lion King differ widely. A look at the two major review aggregators shows a mixed bag of reviews – with a positive tendency. At Metacritic, the film currently averages 58 out of 100 points. Rotten Tomatoes reports 59 percent positive reviews.
We’ve cherry-picked a few passages to give you a better idea of the film, starting with Kevin Maher’s review for The Times:
Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) takes a really deep dive into a story about orphans, family conflicts and the reluctant fight for a throne. It’s often exciting to watch this movie, which features only anthropomorphic animals and has main characters who are rounder than most of their human counterparts in mainstream cinema (yes, that’s you, Gladiator II).
Robert Daniels’ review also expresses enthusiasm. He wrote about what he likes about the film for the online magazine IGN:
Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa is a strong, straightforward work that should inspire children. The Moonlight director’s involvement in a CGI-heavy Disney prequel had film lovers wringing their hands, but the result speaks for itself: this is simply a beautiful movie.
Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz also had a lot to like about Mufasa: The Lion King, noting at Roger Ebert:
These and other aspects make the film vibrate with personality, while in other hands it might have seemed like a routine exercise in intellectual property. Mufasa never quite breaks free from the constraints imposed on him, but these constraints never prevent [the film] from moving or being moving. He has a handwriting that is executed with a steady hand.
Alison Foreman of IndieWire, on the other hand, left the film with very mixed feelings, but in the end she admits that it has its own charm:
The ending makes our titular hero look so ludicrously foolish that you may never see him the same way again. But if you loved [Jon] Favreau’s 2019 movie (and are still largely unscathed by eye pain), then this extremely flawed extension is worth a look. Watch it in theaters when the Natural History Museum is closed – or wait for it to come out on Disney+. Mufasa has a hidden charm that can best be described as ‘Jenkins released directly on VHS’.
At our sister site FILMSTARTS, editor-in-chief Christoph Peterson comes to the following conclusion in his detailed review:
The animations – especially in terms of facial expressions and action staging – are once again a clear improvement on the 2019 Lion King remake. The prequel proves to be a breathtakingly spectacular screen adventure, even if Mufasa and Scar have been such iconic figures since their first appearance in the cinema that the subsequent account of their childhood and youth can hardly fail to disappoint.
Is Mufasa: The Lion King suitable for the whole family? That is the FSK age rating
The FSK’s age rating reveals that nothing has changed from its predecessor. Just like the 2019 Disney remake, Mufasa: The Lion King is rated for viewers aged six and up in this country. The FSK cites “threat” and “distressing scenes” as a very brief explanation.
What does that mean exactly? The film features dramatic (action) scenes in which various characters are in mortal danger, for example because the animals hunt each other or have to survive the perils of nature. In addition, Mufasa: The Lion King deals with serious topics such as loss, betrayal and jealousy.
However, it does not get too dark. The new film is very much in the style of its predecessor and focuses on family and friendship as a central motif. The animals have more human features in their faces again and move through digitally created, but photorealistically depicted worlds.
