118 min | PG | December 20, 2024 | Walt Disney Pictures
Barry Jenkins trades poetry for paycheck. The Lion King gets a backstory nobody asked for, rendered in photoreal animation that still can’t make fake animals emote.
Barry Jenkins directed Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. Two films that understood how to use light and framing and silence to communicate what words could not. Then Disney hands him computer-generated lions that look real and feel dead. This is what happens when a visionary filmmaker agrees to work inside a corporate animation pipeline that prioritizes technical realism over emotional expression.
The voice cast does what it can. Aaron Pierre voices young Mufasa with dignity. Kelvin Harrison Jr. brings complexity to young Scar. Blue Ivy Carter makes her feature debut and holds her own. The returning cast, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyoncé, deliver exactly what’s expected. No one embarrasses themselves. No one transcends the material.
The problem is structural. The film explains how Mufasa became king. Who cares? The Lion King worked because it was Hamlet with animals. Clean, simple, devastating. This prequel adds mythology where none is needed. The photorealistic animation remains a technical marvel and a storytelling disaster. Real lions cannot convey the emotional range required for musical theatre. They just stand there, mouths moving, eyes dead.
Jenkins brings moments of genuine visual beauty. The landscapes are stunning. The composition is thoughtful. But you can feel him fighting against the constraints of the format. The film delivers competent family entertainment that will fade from memory the moment the credits roll.