Mufasa: The Lion King

Yesterday I went to a matinee of Mufasa: The Lion King and, while it has flaws, I enjoyed it more than most of the critics did.  When Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter) is about to give birth during a storm, Simba (Donald Glover) enlists Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) to babysit their daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter).  Rafiki (John Kani) steps in to tell Kiara the story of how her grandfather Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) went from an orphan to the king of the Pride Lands.  When the cub Mufasa is separated from his parents Afia (Anika Noni Rose) and Masego (Keith David) during a flood, he is saved by Taka (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) and taken in by his mother Eshe (Thandiwe Newton) and eventually by his father Obasi (Lennie James), the leader the pride.  Mufasa becomes a surrogate brother to Taka but they are both sent away by Obasi when the pride is attacked by a white lion named Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) and his group of "Outsiders."  While on the run from Kiros, Mufasa and Taka encounter a lioness named Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), a hornbill named Zazu (Preston Nyman), and a young mandrill named Rafiki (Kagiso Ledigo) who are traveling to the mythological land of Milele and decide to join them.  Taka develops feelings for Sarabi but, when she falls in love with Mufasa, he becomes jealous and leaves marks so Kiros can follow them.  When they reach Milele, Mufasa must unite all of the animals for battle, face Kiros, and deal with Taka's betrayal.  The biggest flaws are the story, which is convoluted and uses a plot device that is very cliched, and the pacing, which becomes tedious whenever it returns to the present with Timon and Pumbaa (who are not funny).  However, I did really enjoy the relationship between Mufasa and Taka as brothers and I think Pierre and Harrison, Jr. do a great job voicing the characters.  The visuals, which showcase many diverse areas, are absolutely stunning, especially the scenes underwater, and the animals have expression and personality which is a vast improvement over the 2019 live action remake.  I really loved the original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, particularly "I Always Wanted a Brother," "We Go Together," and "Tell Me It's You," but I do think the tone of "Bye Bye" is a bit too campy for such a menacing villain.  I liked this (more than Moana 2, the other Disney cash-grab this year) enough to recommend seeing it over the holidays.