Mufasa, The Lion King: Roars with energy

Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) • View trailer

Four stars (out of five). Rated PG, and rather generously, despite considerable violence, peril and dramatic intensity

Available via: Movie theaters

By Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 12.22.24 

This film’s look is nothing short of spectacular; the blend of animation, photo-real CGI and cinematographer James Laxton’s live-action contribution is amazing. All the animals, as well, look and move with impressive authenticity.

 

You’ll wonder, repeatedly, where actual African vistas surrender to CGI make-believe.

Ideally, though; you shouldn’t spend much time wondering, thanks to Jeff Nathanson’s riveting screenplay. He includes everything: family bonding, friendship, love, betrayal and often brutal Shakespearean drama. Indeed, this film’s PG rating seems generous, given the level of violence and nature’s harshness.

 

The often varied African landscape can be unforgiving.

 

Mufasa opens as Simba and his mate, Nala (Donald Glover and Beyoncé, returning to their roles from 2019’s The Lion King), temporarily leave their young daughter, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), in the care of the wise mandrill shaman, Rafiki (John Kani). The cub is frightened by a ferocious thunderstorm, so Rafiki calms her with the saga of her grandfather, Mufasa, who rose from humble origins to become the beloved king of the savannah.

 

This story frequently is interrupted by the antics of wisecracking meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner) and gassy warthog Pumba (Seth Rogen), who attempt to interject their trademark slapstick ... along with repeated attempts to sing “Hakuna Matata.”

 

(Children will find their antics hilarious. In point of fact, they quickly become distracting, even annoying.)

 

The core tale thus unfolds via a lengthy flashback. It opens under grim conditions, as young Mufasa and his parents, Masego (Keith David) and Afia (Anika Noni Rose), join other desperate animals in a search for water during a lengthy drought. Masego celebrates his son’s speed and adventurous spirit; Afia regales him with stories of Milele (“forever”), a cherished savannah “beyond the last cloud in the sky.”

 

A sudden monsoon rainstorm initially seems like salvation, but the resulting flash flood separates Mufasa from his parents; the helpless cub is washed many, many miles downstream.

 

Exhausted when the current finally recedes, barely able to keep his head above water, Mufasa escapes becoming an alligator’s dinner thanks to the timely intervention of Taka (Theo Somolu), a kind-hearted cub from a nearby pride. Alas, this generous act violates the pride’s rule that forbids outsiders, strictly enforced by Taka’s father, Obasi (Lennie James). His more forgiving mate, Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), perceives Mufasa as a lion capable of enhanced senses. Mufasa is allowed to remain.

Bros: Love ain't pretty

Bros (2022) • View trailer

3.5 stars (out of five). Rated R, and quite generously, for relentless nudity, profanity and explicit sexual content

Available via: Movie theaters

By Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.30.22

This is not your grandmother’s rom-com.

 

Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller’s boldly audacious dramedy is ground-breaking: not merely for its gender-appropriate casting, but also for the story’s unflinchingly candid depiction of modern-day love among (primarily) gay men.

 

Bobby (Billy Eichner, standing) floats an idea to his fellow museum board members:
from left, Angela (Ts Madison), Wanda (Miss Lawrence), Tamara (Eve Lindley),
Robert (Jim Rash) and Cherry (Dot-Marie Jones). Alas, they aren't buying it...

Eichner and Stoller’s caustic, sharp-edged script also is wickedly funny, with the former — also starring as our key protagonist — demonstrating perfect comic timing with a relentless series of arch one-liners, aggrieved declamations and impassioned laments.

But conservative viewers be advised: The R rating is generous, given this film’s frequent and quite explicit sexual content. Although … ah … dangling bits remain off-camera, virtually nothing else is left to the viewer’s imagination.

 

The story actually is an amplification of the material Eichner has long delivered via stand-up and sketch comedy, notably on the long-running TV series Billy on the Street.

 

The setting is trendy New York, where Bobby Leiber (Eichner) has carved out a laudable, media-centric career as an observer and ferocious activist in the LGBTQ+ scene. He has a successful podcast, writes books, gives speeches, and frequently is recognized for his advocacy.

 

His newest project is massive, as a member of the board of a revolutionary, as-yet unfinished LGBTQIA+ Museum.

 

Bobby ideally would cast himself as a “personality,” despite the fact that his actual personality keeps getting in the way. He’s caustic, domineering, condescending and totally dismissive of outdated concepts such as “dating” and “love.” He’s 40 years old and defiantly proud of being a singleton.

 

He’s also — as quickly becomes obvious — his own worst enemy: wound tighter than a crystal radio coil, while suppressing a boatload of emotional baggage.

 

Trouble is, the personal lives of his friends are evolving, whether via marriage, families or polyamorous relationships such as throuples. Bobby feels increasingly left out … although he’d die before admitting as much.

 

The Lion King: More of a whimper than a roar

The Lion King (2019) • View trailer 
Three stars. Rated PG, for dramatic intensity
By Derrick Bang

It’s difficult to view this film as anything but a cynical cash grab.

Cruelly tricked into believing that he has committed an unspeakable act, the forlorn
lion cub Simba's spirits are lifted when he unexpectedly befriends a warthog (Pumbaa)
and a meerkat (Timon).

Disney has been cannibalizing its legacy of late, and the results are increasingly deplorable. Bad enough that we had to endure (mostly) live-action remakes of Dumbo and Aladdin earlier this year; at least they’re populated mostly by human characters who could be given fresh interpretations by flesh-and-blood actors (as will be the case with a live-action Mulan, arriving next year).

But The Lion King is different: nothing more than “trading up” an entirely non-human cast from (more or less) traditional animation to CGI. To what end? Animation is animation. The opulent, Tony Award-winning Broadway production was highlighted by Julie Taymor’s costume design and inventive direction, Richard Hudson’s scenic design, and Garth Fagan’s choreography … none of which translates to this animated retread.

And, as was the case with Aladdin, this Lion King has been expanded from the 1994 original’s just-right 88 minutes, to a bloated and often insufferable 118 minutes. That additional half-hour adds nothing to the story, aside from granting director Jon Favreau more space for portentously long takes apparently intended to amplify the drama.

In fact, such lengthy pauses make the film seem like more of a drag.

In fairness, the animation is stunning:  a collaborative effort by visual effects supervisor Rob Legato, animation supervisor Andrew R. Jones, and MPC Film VFX supervisors Adam Valdez and Elliot Newman. It’s not merely a pride of lions looking and moving in a lifelike manner; this story has a massive cast of four-legged and winged characters, not to mention sidebar insects, reptiles and all manner of other critters.

The verisimilitude is breathtaking … and that’s part of the problem. Because it frankly looks weird when these creatures break into song. The talking is disorienting enough, but at least that’s subtle; watching the mouths of a lifelike lion, warthog and meerkat wrap their lips around the lyrics of “Hakuna Matata” utterly destroys the illusion.