The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride

[X-Nightcrawler]

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (1998)

The Circle Of Life Continues.



I know. Love will find a way. Anywhere I go. I'm home. If you are there beside me. -Lyrics "Love Will Find A Way".

Plot:
Simba's pride, although off on a happy start with the birth of his adventurous daughter Kiara, begins going awry as a feud with the family of exiled Outsiders (who are led by Scar's mate, Zira) begins growing stronger. Again, I'd give more details but I'd rather not.

What I Thought:
So Disney has given itself a terrible reputation of making sequels to every single movie they ever did (even if it wasn't successful *cough*Atlantis2*cough*) and make them absolutely terrible. Anyway, I wasn't aware of this status until I had already seen "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", the sequel to the most successful Disney movie ever and also the best. Since I rewatched both movies back-to-back last night after so long, I can be as objective as possible.

I'll just go out and say it, lo que será sera: The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride is the most underrated movie in existance. There, I said it and I mean it. Eventhough it had so fucking much to accomplish, it pulled it off and turned out to be one of Disney's best movies, STV sequel or not. Oh fuck it, I'll just say it. This is Disney's second best movie, second only to the original, fuck all the others. Weird to hear that many people haven't seen it when it's the best selling STV animated movie of all time (maybe it's not much saying, but it's some saying, right?) but that's beside the point. The fact that it followed part 1's paw-steps and was made to take itself seriously, give great plot and character depht and spot-on humor made it as good as it is. Anyway, now that I've gotten your attention and swelled your medula oblangata, let me continue.

"Romeo And Juliet" this time, friends and neighboors, and you know what that means. It means a really touching love story that surpasses the love story in the first (which is excused, because love isn't the central theme of the first). Now, the central characters are the teenage love-birds Kiara and Kovu. But don't be fooled, Simba and gang are NOT put aside, but remain in the spotlight, which gives this one more work, as it has to develop more characters. I could go pages and pages about the depht of the characters in the Lion King universe (particularily Simba and Kovu, my two favoite characters) but I won't, and I'll address that later. What I loved about this sequel is that it doesn't focus on the new characters' 'cub' years and quickly leaps to their teenage years, which is how they spend the rest of the movie and when it gets interesting.

The plot is fucking brilliant. First off, it's so well written that it could be the same movie as the first. Hell, tape the first, cut before the final sequence and paste the beginning of LK2 there and you'll get one really long epic. It doesn't rehash a bit of the first, but takes its themes and undercurrents and makes clever and realistic repercussions from the events of the first for the second, particularily to give the villains their motives (oh right, it's not just one villian but a whole unit, which works great. I might dare say that the motives are more human for these guys than for Scar [eventhough Scar remains a better character]). The dialogue is definitely a step up from the first, with this one's being more Shakespearean (loved the first conversation between Simba and Kovu) than the last.

It's also really very complex and not just from a character point of view. The plot itself is pretty complex. My favorite part is having the presence of Mufasa so thickly in the movie as he orchestrates everything from up above. That was a brilliant touch and very well done. Makes it all the more nostalgic and emotional for the characters. Which also works with one of the themes: "Let go off the past." I tought it was clever how all these themes are used, re-used and changed and in the end they just give a much more complete experience. My only problem is the pacing of the movie. It goes really fast (which is a bad thing for me because I really didn't want it to end) when it would be more clever and more realistic if it went slower. Everything after the extended period of time when the leads grow happens in just a couple of days, I would've liked it if more time went by but alas. Other than that, the plot is just brilliant and 'sequelitis' free.

The characters are again the movie's biggest strenght. We're introduced to a character as deep and developed as Simba by the name of Kovu. The design is a brilliant spin-off of Scar (which is also an important development for him later on) and I love his unique facial expressions. What's great is the arc Kovu goes through. First you think he's the bad guy, then he goes good and SIMBA looks like the bad guy. The transitions and growth of both sides (Simba and Kovu) are strong and very believable. The love story that grows quickly but never out-of-nowhere was very moving and culminates in one of the best songs in the movie, "Love Will Find A Way". A loss is that some characters do miss the spotlight, like Nala for example. She's always there but never went through any transformation, which is fine because her story is over in the end of movie 1, Simba's isn't. In fact, Simba never really became King until this movie, when he let go off the past (I love the constant "You'll never be Mufasa!" theme). The new characters are overly great though somewhat clichéd (not Kovu, damn, not Kovu) like Nuka for example. He's a decently developed character and very very good for someone with so little screen time. I loved the "This is my moment of glory! Are you watching, mother?" moment. Again, I could go on and on about their depht but that will be for another time.

The music here is mindblowing. Elton John is one of the few crew or cast members who're missing from the first (a big loss too being Rowan Atkinson as Zazu), but it's not a great loss since the songs here, in my opinion, are even better than the ones in the first. "He Lives In You" is incredibly emotional and will be supportive for anyone who has had a loss in their lives. "Not One Of Us" has to be the most intense moment of the entire movie, I think my hands were sweating (but then I just adore Kovu). "Love Will Find A Way" is touching and "We Are One" could be the most beautiful of the bunch. These songs are fantastic and they do have a little depht to them, unlike most in other Disney movies. I guess it's just that these songs are all character specific and they all add to said characters.

The voice acting is again fantastic from everyone involved. I particularily liked Kovu's, who played it with passion. Broderick does well again and maybe even better, since he doesn't underplay at some points like in the original. Neve Campbell is AWESOME as Kiara, but then I'm in love with Neve. It's all great. ALL great. *mouth foams* Too bad I was missing Jeremy Irons' Scar, but hey. The directing wasn't as outstanding as the one in the first, but then I never had any problems iwth the choices that were made. I loved the direction they took the plot, the well defined themes and the hugely wide character arcs. I also found the fact that Pride Rock is always shot from the opposite side this time around, and that there's a LOT of symbolism. Clever one, at that.

Overall Rating:
9/10. While it's not "The Lion King", it's a damned fucking fine sequel and like I said, the second best Disney movie. The third is definitely "Mulan" though. But none other than its predecessor has gotten the depht and brilliance as "Simba's Pride" has. I'll say it again: "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride is the most underrated movie there is."

Now go watch it not minding the Disney sequels' bad reputation.