If the 2019 reboot of The Lion King, that came out 25 years after the original, also called The Lion King, taught us anything, it is that one should never tamper with anything that has made a place for itself not only in the hearts of the audience but also in cinema history.

Mufasa: The Lion King, though not a reboot or remake, can be added to that list. Serving as a prequel to the 2019 film, it takes us back in time to when Mufasa and Taka — as Scar was once known — were young cubs roaming the plains together.

Much before he was king, we get to know that Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) didn’t belong to royalty. As a cub, he was separated from his parents in a freak flood and rescued from the jaws of crocodiles by Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr), the royal heir to a mighty pride ruled by Obasi (Lennie James) and Eshe (Thandiwe Newton).

Adopted into the family, Mufasa’s presence became increasingly contentious. Adored by Taka and nurtured by the kind Eshe, he was, however, scorned by Obasi, who perceived him as a threat. “Some day, he will betray you,” Obasi tells Taka. “That is what strays do.” Mufasa, as we know from the previous films, eventually becomes king of the Pride Lands, but not without strife and conflict. He faces the dangers of tribalism and quickly learns about tyranny.

The story is told in flashback to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter, making her debut), the young offspring of Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala (Beyonce), who have left their daughter in the babysitting care of Timon (Billy Eichner), Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and the wise mandrill Rafiki (John Kani).

This is definitely not the Lion King story that audiences are familiar with. That alone should have placed Mufasa: The Lion King at an advantage right from the outset. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.

Mufasa: The Lion King, apart from a few inspired moments here and there, is mostly a joyless and overstuffed addition to the franchise. It is a nostalgia-pandering photorealistic prequel whose impressive graphics cannot make up for its plodding pace and predictable story.

When it released, The Lion King became the highest-grossing film of 1994. It went on to become the top home video choice, holding that record for years. It was adapted for the stage in 1997, earning six Tony Awards and is now the third-longest running musical on Broadway and the highest-grossing show of all time. It continues to be a favourite with families, with parents who watched the film as kids now milking nostalgia to show the film to their young ones, sometimes almost as a rite of passage. The 2019 reboot, though enjoyable in its own right, doesn’t come close. The new film misses the target by miles.

Mufasa: The Lion King blends live-action filmmaking techniques with photoreal computer-generated imagery. An epic fantasy story like this, especially one with anthropomorphic animals, definitely requires an expressive storytelling format to wholly encompass the heightened emotions and conflicts driving the events. The visuals in Mufasa: The Lion King are undoubtedly impressive. Wide grand vistas often loom into view, there are snow-capped mountains and expansive parched savannahs, which alternate with close-ups of lions. Technically, the film hits the high notes, but somehow lacks the heart that is necessary for a film that aims to be much more than a film.

That said, Mufasa: The Lion King is a definite improvement over the franchise’s 2019 outing, with Jon Favreau giving way to Barry Jenkins as director. Jenkins — who shot into the spotlight with the Oscar-winning Moonlight and followed it up with the equally feted If Beale Street Could Talk — is an inspired (some may call it odd) choice for a film like this. But it is actually in his hands that Mufasa: The Lion King soars in parts, gifting viewers with some moods and moments that will remain for posterity. But it fails when it comes to being as heartfelt and imaginative as the 1994 original.

That has a lot to do with Lin Manuel-Miranda’s disappointing score. Music has always been the bedrock of The Lion King franchise, just as it is for most animation films, especially those with the Disney stamp.

Miranda, an Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner, is known to weave magic with his music and lyrics. He has brought Hamilton to life on both stage and screen and his score for films like Moana and Encanto are counted as among the best, even outside the genre. But in Mufasa: The Lion King, the man, and his music, seem to be severely out of depth.

The songs are not only not memorable, they often seem intrusive and unnecessary. Most of them exist to only pad up the narrative and to reinforce what we are already watching. For example, I Always Wanted a Brother plays out during the bonding sequences and the friends relying on each other during a trek is padded up with We Go Together. The lyrics may be apt, and often clever, but nothing in the music of Mufasa: Lion King stands in the same league as Beyonce’s 2019 number Spirit, let alone Elton John’s classic Circle of Life from the 1994 original.