Weekend Watch: Mufasa: The Lion King, Laid

Earlier in the circle of life and a woman has trouble with past lovers

Image Credit: Disney

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, the origin of Simba’s dad and Stephanie Hsu is a danger to her former sex buddies. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

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Did Disney really need to redo the 1994 animated epic The Lion King with near-photorealistic CG and a few new songs? Probably not, but Jon Favreau made something impressive nonetheless and it certainly roared at the box office.

So, did the studio really need to make a prequel explaining how Mufasa ended up as the Lion King himself and what happened to make Scar so bitter and vengeful? Honestly, there was even less reason. Yet I was willing to give it a shot given the presence of the excellent Barry Jenkins (Moonlight remains one of my favourite films) as director and Hamilton genius Lin-Manuel Miranda on song-writing duty.

Sadly I must report that, despite the usual high standard when it comes to the animation and a few amusing moments, this does not live up to its promise.

A big issue is Jeff Nathanson’s script. Unmoored from the structure of the original, he flails, cranking out something that feels like a poor imitation of the Hamlet-inspired story. The dynamic between Mufasa, who is separated from his family by an almighty flood and Taka (the future Scar), a privileged cub whose own pride has him lined up to be king, is one we’ve seen far too many times before and this take does little that is fresh with it.

While the likes of Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James and Anika Noni Rose do their best with the vocal work, it’s all so basic. And though Miranda’s songs have their high points, I honestly couldn’t hum a single one, which is sad to say as someone who still has big chunks of his Hamilton, In The Heights and Moana music lodged in their brain.

And though the story is being told by Rafiki (John Kani) to Simba’s daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), with Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) listening in, the intercuts mostly serve to make you wish you were watching more from the Favreau film’s cast rather than jumping back into the repetitive and unsatisfying narrative of the prequel.

Don’t get me started on the fact that poor old Mads Mikkelsen is back on villain duty, and saddled with quite the most generic baddie imaginable in white lion Kiros. It’s all just so average and all the more disappointing for that.

Lion King? More like Lying there.

Mufasa: The Lion King is in UK and US cinemas now.

Image Credit: NBC Universal

Is there a reason Stephanie Hsu isn’t a gigantic star already, batting off competing offers for movies and TV shows like King Kong swatting planes away from the top of the Empire State Building? At this point, I’m choosing to think it’s some sort of conspiracy –– she’s been excellent in a number of different projects, including Everything Everywhere All At Once, Joy Ride, and TV comedy series Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens.

Even when she’s in smaller roles, such as in Shang-Chi or The Fall Guy, she brings it. I’m delighted, then, to see her scoring a lead role in a series, and she’s just as superb in twisted new comedy show Laid.

Hsu plays Ruby, a woman who is growing tired of the dull dating scene and seemingly unsatisfied with much of her life. But when former lovers start dying in weird ways, she must dig into the mystery why. It’s a wonderfully weird take on the rom-com genre that finds fresh things to say about the genders and mines plenty of humour from the various situations.

Of course Hsu crushes it in the lead, bringing her usual skill to both the wackier comic moments and the more emotional shades, and she’s well supported by a cast that also includes Zosia Mamet, Michael Angarano, Tommy Martinez and Finneas O’Connell (who deserves a special shout-out for his goofy, vanity-free turn.

Adapted from Kirsty Fisher and Marieke Hardy’s Australian series of the same name by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna, this really made me laugh –– and appreciate Hsu’s talent all the more.

All of Laid Season 1 is on Peacock in the US now. A UK date has yet to be announced. I’ve seen all 10 episodes.