Barry Jenkins infuses the “Lion King” prequel “Mufasa” with new vitality and uniqueness.

One extremely significant advantage of “Mufasa: The Lion King” is that it tells an original tale.

In the larger scheme of things, that would appear to be a very low bar or even faint praise. However, creativity shouldn’t be discounted in a world where Disney keeps remaking its animated library in slightly different and typically less engaging ways, such as “live action” or “photorealistic,” which typically just serves to highlight how excellent the 2D animation was.

Furthermore, this story isn’t just filling in fan service requirements and giving unnecessary backstory explanations—it’s good. This prequel to “The Lion King,” which opens in theaters on Thursday, tells the story of a found family, treachery, and fate. It starts by explaining why we all know that the estrangement between brothers Scar and Mufasa will result in murder, how Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) becomes king of the Pride Lands, and—perhaps most importantly—why only one of them speaks English.

In this story, Mufasa was a lost cub who had been split from his parents in a spectacular flood, and Scar was formerly Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), set to be king of his pride. After saving him, Taka adopts Mufasa into his family. His father (Lennie James) dismisses the visitor as a stray, while his mother (Thandiwe Newton) welcomes him. The cubs are happy to have a brother, so it doesn’t really matter to them. They grow up together, play together, and watch out for one other. However, as Taka is shown as the coward and Mufasa as the extraordinary one, cracks begin to show in this foundation. After that, a lioness (Tiffany Boone) appears in Sarabi. We’ve all watched enough films to understand the consequences.

Veteran screenwriter Jeff Nathanson, whose credits include this year’s beautiful “Young Woman and the Sea,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and the 2019 film “Lion King,” wrote the screenplay. He obviously created the least cynical version of a corporate directive (give us more “Lion King”). There are still some dubious corporate-feeling decisions, like as the attempt to link it to a present and future “Lion King” by having Rafiki (John Kani) narrate the tale to Timon (Billy Eichner), Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), and Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala’s (Beyoncé) daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs interspersed with these humorous pauses don’t add up. In actuality, they just act to slow down the gripping core plot.

The form itself, however, continues to be the fundamental problem. Even if the photo-realistic computer-generated creatures have advanced technically since the 2019 “Lion King,” they still lack the cinematic appeal of their 2D animation counterparts. In spite of director Barry Jenkins’ best efforts, seeing these animals for two hours is a really monotonous and numbing experience, no matter how impressive it is cognitively. In order to make the landscapes as dramatic as possible and to bring them closer to the vibrancy of animation than ever before, the Oscar-winning director of “Moonlight” performed a commendable job of incorporating color and visual intrigue. The fact that he was never going to have to repeat famous scenes in a less engaging format is another benefit of the original plot. Filmmakers haven’t yet sorted out some of the inherent constraints, such as how strange it appears for these animals’ jaws to move and speak English words. It’s most peculiar when they’re singing, their jaws open to hold the lengthy notes in a manner that should never be seen in a lion’s mouth.

There is still a lot of space for development and experimentation if this is the direction that filmmaking is taking. While the kinks are ironed out, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be welcomed. However, this does not imply that moviegoers must become enthralled with each repeat. Although “Mufasa: The Lion King” is superior to its predecessors, it is still not a masterpiece.

The Motion Picture Association has given Walt Disney Studios’ “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which opens in theaters on Thursday, a PG rating due to “peril, action/violence, and some thematic elements.” 118 minutes of running time. I give it two and a half stars.