‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Review: If Real Beasts Could Talk … Barry Jenkins Pushes Virtual Performances in Impactful Origin Story

variety.com:

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Early in “The Lion King,” the adorable yet spoiled African prince Simba goes gallivanting around his father Mufasa’s lands, taunting his future subjects with the song “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” In Broadway terms, it’s a classic “I want” number, telling audiences what’s in the character’s heart at that point in the film, before tragedy, exile, love and responsibility shape this carefree cub into a worthy successor.

Flash forward to “Mufasa: The Lion King”¬¬ — or rewind, since “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins’ impressive, emotionally satisfying contribution to the Disney canon serves as a prequel to one of the studio’s most beloved franchises — and we find Mufasa in a very different mindset.

Faster than you can say “little orphan Bambi,” this once and future king loses his parents in a dramatic flood, one that washes him far from home and into the lands of an altogether different pride.

There, he’s not seen as royalty, but rather as an “outsider” and a threat to the existing hierarchy. King Obasi (Lennie James) and his son Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) needn’t be concerned, as the exhausted new arrival has no such ambitions.