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Lion King Pass
Aug. 11th, 2024 01:31 pmSo Disney is doing a "live-action" animated prequel to THE LION KING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17MF9vnabg
The animation looks cool, and if I had no idea this was a prequel, I'd probably be intrigued.
However...
The problem with prequels with a "before he became evil" character is that they're inherently tragic. We KNOW it's going to end badly. This is why I generally don't like them. Sure, there's supposed to be suspense generated by the question, "What happened that the character became evil?" because no one is =ever= inherently selfish or cruel or self-serving--they must have gone through some kind of tragedy to make them evil. But this is so rarely done well that it's not worth watching. The ONLY character arc of this type that riveted me was watching Lex Luthor develop in SMALLVILLE, and that was because of Michael Rosenbaum's fantastic performance that showed us Lex battling the darkness already inside him.
This trailer, meanwhile, runs in entirely the opposite direction. Apparently, Mufasa is a lost lion cub found by prince Maka (who eventually becomes Scar). Mufasa is eventually adopted into Maka's family. The trailer spends a lot of time showing how much Maka wanted a brother, and how much joy the two brothers share, how deep their brotherly bond runs. The trailer shows not a hint of darkness in Maka, who is instead exuberant and loyal and utterly loveable.
But we know he has to turn so evil that he deliberately murders his brother, tries to kill his nephew, and turns the area around Pride Rock into a wasteland that starves his people. This means the movie is going to send this exuberant, loyal, loveable little kid through some kind of horrifying hell and torture him until he becomes black and twisted.
This is not a movie I want to watch. Not even for Lin Manuel-Miranda's music. Hard, hard pass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17MF9vnabg
The animation looks cool, and if I had no idea this was a prequel, I'd probably be intrigued.
However...
The problem with prequels with a "before he became evil" character is that they're inherently tragic. We KNOW it's going to end badly. This is why I generally don't like them. Sure, there's supposed to be suspense generated by the question, "What happened that the character became evil?" because no one is =ever= inherently selfish or cruel or self-serving--they must have gone through some kind of tragedy to make them evil. But this is so rarely done well that it's not worth watching. The ONLY character arc of this type that riveted me was watching Lex Luthor develop in SMALLVILLE, and that was because of Michael Rosenbaum's fantastic performance that showed us Lex battling the darkness already inside him.
This trailer, meanwhile, runs in entirely the opposite direction. Apparently, Mufasa is a lost lion cub found by prince Maka (who eventually becomes Scar). Mufasa is eventually adopted into Maka's family. The trailer spends a lot of time showing how much Maka wanted a brother, and how much joy the two brothers share, how deep their brotherly bond runs. The trailer shows not a hint of darkness in Maka, who is instead exuberant and loyal and utterly loveable.
But we know he has to turn so evil that he deliberately murders his brother, tries to kill his nephew, and turns the area around Pride Rock into a wasteland that starves his people. This means the movie is going to send this exuberant, loyal, loveable little kid through some kind of horrifying hell and torture him until he becomes black and twisted.
This is not a movie I want to watch. Not even for Lin Manuel-Miranda's music. Hard, hard pass.
