"Yee-haw?"









Having taken his rightful place as King, Simba (Matthew Broderick) banishes the lions that were loyal to his treacherous uncle, Scar, and has a daughter of his own, Kiara (Neve Campbell). As she grows up, Kiara yearns for independence and befriends one of the banished lions, Kovu (Jason Marsden). Simba reluctantly allows him to join the pride, but can't help but wonder if he can trust Kovu or if there is a sinister plot to overthrow his rule.









What Works:





I wasn't expecting much from a straight-to-video sequel to a classic film. That usually is not a recipe for success, but I enjoyed this film. What helps is that it's not a carbon copy of the original. This is a wholly new story with different themes, but the same characters. That's exactly how a sequel should be.





I was actually interested in the story between Kiara and Kovu. It's a classic tale, two characters who are in love, but can't be together because of where they are from, but that doesn't stop it from being interesting. I especially like Kovu and find the conflict he faces interesting. He loves Kiara, but has loyalty to his family and watching him struggle with that makes for an engaging story.





I love that Simba gets more development in this movie. He's a parent now and has to learn how to let his daughter be independent and watching him get over his prejudice against Kovu is probably my favorite part of the film. It feels like a very natural direction for his character to go and it works very well.





Finally, there are a few really cool sequences in the film. Zira's (Suzanne Pleshette) villain song goes way harder than it needed to, Rafiki's (Robert Guillaume) song is delightfully bonkers, Kovu rescuing Kiara from the wildfire looks great, and Zira's first attack on Simba is intense.









What Sucks:





While enjoyed some of the songs in this film, it never comes close to matching the music from the original. They tried, but ultimately came up short.





The animation isn't anywhere close to being as beautiful as the original movie. It's obvious that they had a lower budget, but it's really noticeable, especially if you watch this right after watching the original. The scene with Kovu's siblings lighting torches looks especially bad.





Finally, there is too much Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumba (Ernie Sabella) and not enough Zazu (Edward Hibbert). Timon and Pumba get way too much to do and it's all pretty one note, while Zazu gets four lines in the whole movie. I get that he is voiced by a different actor this time around, but come on. Balance out the comic relief a little bit.









Verdict:





For a straight-to-video sequel to a kid's movie, I'm pretty impressed with The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. The story is interesting, it feels like a natural progression from the original, and Simba's development is engaging. The music and animation aren't as good and the comic relief is not well balanced, but I still say this movie has got it going on.



