Mufasa: The Lion King Review: Mahesh Babu’s Voice, Grand Visuals Highlights, But Lacks Logics!
Mufasa: The Lion King is a spin-off that takes the origin story of two lions, Mufasa and Taka who later turns out to be Scar. It's more or less the film's concentration on the childhood events of these two lions that finally led to their rivalry. Mufasa, the orphaned cub, befriended Taka, a young lion prince near a water body. Once Mufasa's real origins came out, this changed everything about his relationship with an angry Taka.
Performances
The film boasts impressive voice performances from its lead actors. Mahesh Babu, as the voice of Mufasa, brings his trademark wit and dialogue delivery to the character. Satydev, as the voice of Taka, is equally impressive and gets adequate scope to showcase his vocal modulation as per the transformation of the character. The legendary duo Brahmanandam and Ali, as the voices of Pumbaa and Timon, bring the roof down with their delightful comic timing.
Analysis
Mufasa: The Lion King is a film that makes one wonder how franchise-driven cinema is relevant to modern-day filmmaking. Though franchises give a security blanket, which is predictability, it also limits avenues of new storytelling. One of the things that's impressive about the film is that it tries to explore Mufasa's childhood and relationship with Taka, which fell flat because of predictability and formulaic storytelling in the film.
Music and Other Departments
The only redeeming quality of the film is the music score composed by Nicholas Britell. The score is emphatic and has lifted the emotional moments in the film. The visuals, which are constructed photo-realistically using CGI, also work well. The songs in the film are catchy but add little value to the proceedings. The Telugu dialogues for the film are inconsistent and hold little appeal.
Verdict
Mufasa: The Lion King is a spinoff that does not work. With its good voice performances and visuals, it fails to deliver with the predictable and formulaic storytelling that makes it a disappointment to watch. The only good things about the film are its music score and visuals, but they cannot redeem the overall lacklustre experience of the film.
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