When I first watched SP, I was 10. I liked it a lot, almost as much as the original in fact. I liked the forbidden romance plot, I related a lot to Kiara, I had a crush on kovu [sorry not sorry lol], and I loved the music.
Fast forward almost five years later, and my opinion on the movie has changed...quite a lot.
A day or two ago, I noticed that I hadn't watched SP in about six months. I decided to go ahead and watch it again. But this time, I was going to do it a bit differently. Usually when I watch the movie I have my nostalgia goggles on rather tight, but this time I decided to watch it like I hadn't watched it as a kid, and judge it that way.
Yeah....you can probably guess how I felt when the movie was over. I still stand by what I said before about it being decent, though.
So afterwards, I decided to do an analysis of my thoughts on the movie.. Lets get started!
Plot
Yeah, i think most of us can agree that plot is one of the movie's.. lesser points. I'm not really where i should start. I suppose I'll start with the forbidden romance stuff.
Forbidden Romance
Now, i think most of us can agree that the whole Forbidden Love thing is one of the big problems with this plot. [I will discuss Kovu and Kiara's relationship in general later] But here's the thing: it didn't HAVE to be. The Romeo and Juliet plot is hard to handle, yes, but it CAN be handled well: just look at West Side Story or at least it was handled better in WSS then it was in SP. There are two major problems with TLK2's plot:
1. The whole "outsiders vs pridelanders" and "simba struggling to live up to his legacy" plots are both very interesting, but they're shoved aside in favor of Romeo and Juliet. I think the movie would have been much better off if they gave the two aforementioned plots more screen time, and cut back a little on kovuxkiara. Basically, give the three plots equal screen time.
2. I am aware that they went with Romeo and Juliet as a sort of nod to how TLK was based off of Hamlet. But here's the thing: TLK was based off of hamlet, yes, but it wasn't JUST that. They changed a lot of stuff, and they took inspiration from other sources as well *coughKimbaTheWhiteLionandBambicough*. That is why, even though Hamlet ends with everyone dying, it doesn't feel like a cop-out at the end of TLK when everyone lives except for Scar.
But the thing about Romeo and Juliet is that its hard to make the star-crossed lovers plot work without their relationship ending terribly. Because if literally everyone is apposing it, there's no logical why it can end well, unless you make some major changes. That's why it just feels...jarring when TLKSP ends all happy daisy sunshine and everything's okay. I get that its a kids movie, but still, they could have handled the ending better while still making it happy. Maybe if they had of given Kovu and Kiara more development....
All the other sideplots
Like I said, I think this movie would have been much better off if they had given stuff like Outsiders VS Pridelanders and Simba's struggles more screen time.
General continuity problems
Siiggghhhh.
Yeah, umm, Disney, what happened to that cub at the end of TLK? It pretty obviously wasn't kiara. I guess you could argue its Kion but still. Oh and, what are these outsiders that appeared out of nowhere? What happened to the hyenas? Why did Simba kick the Outsiders out? Why is Zira obsessed with scar? How could Scar have "hand picked" Kovu? Are Nuka and Vitani Scar's children? Why is Rafiki suddenly nuts and singing about Upendi? Why is Simba suddenly a grouch? WHY IS NALA SUPER PALE?? WHERE DID HER FIRE GO??? The list goes on and on and on
Kovu and Kiara
I'll admit, I actually kinda like this pairing. Its cute, I think they're personalities would go pretty good together. I just wish it was developed more
Messege
'kay, so the message is supposed to be 'We are one", right? Well, that's a good message, but there's just one little problem with that. Why is it that the Outsiders get the "we are one" treatment, but the hyena's didn't in the first movie?
So, yeah, overall? The plot is meh. It had LOTS of potential, but ended up being handled pretty badly. That being said, there ARE some good scenes, but the bad scenes outweigh the good ones.
Characters
Characters are a bit better then the plot, I'll admit. I suppose we should start with our star.
Kiara
I have.... mixed feelings on Kiara.
When I was younger, I loved both Cub Kiara and Adult Kiara. But needless to say, my opinion has changed.
I like Cub Kiara because....well I just relate to her I guess. But even then, I still like her because I think she's cute, and her not wanting to be Queen is a good contrast to Cub Simba and could have potentially been developed a lot more when she was an adult.
But with Adult Kiara, the writers were just like "Meh, who cares about that, lets do Romeo and Juliet instead! 8D"
Even besides that, though, Adult Kiara is so annoying. First of all, she's overly naïve. I get that Simba sheltered her, but its just irritating. I think her character would have been more interesting if the writers made her smarter. Second of all, the way she handled Kovu and the Outsiders was just so stupid. "Oh hey, hot guy who was nice to me for one day as a cub! Lets be friends! Oh my god, you're good all the sudden after one day!! That's so realistic!! OMG Daddy, don't banish Kovu!! Its not like his family wants to kill you or anything!!! D:
And as for that "You will NEVER be Mufasa!" line, I have mixed feelings. On one hand/paw, I totally support someone calling Simba out. But on the other hand/paw, the line was less Kiara calling out Simba on being an overprotective parent and more just plain doing her "I know Kovu better then you do! Even though his family wants to kill me, you should totally trust him!!" thing.
So yeah, that's my opinion on Kiara. But what about our love interest?
Kovu
Okay, I'll admit, I like Kovu. Like, a lot. He's hawt
But I do have one major problem with his character. Namely, the fact that he just becomes good after....what, one day? That's just plain not realistic. I think they should have had him take a few WEEKS, if even that, before he converts. It would have made him more realistic.
So overall, I like Kovu, but i think he could have been done better. I'm really excited to see how he'll be handled in TLG!
The Outsiders in general
The Outsiders are another mixed bag.
On one hand, you have Zira, who is a pretty good villain as far as I'm concerned. Not as good as Scar, perhaps, but still.
Then you have Vitani, who is cool, but doesn't really have any character besides being generally tomboyish. But that makes her all the better to flesh out in fanfics, amirite? XD
...And then you have Nuka.
Honestly though, the problem with the outsiders isn't there individual characters, 'cause they're actually pretty good [besides Nuka lol]. Its the fact that they just show up out of NOWHERE. But that's a continuity problem, not a character problem.
Simba
You know, there's a popular theory floating around that Simba had PTSD, which is why he acts the way he does in the movies. While I like this theory, and I support it, I still have problems with Simba. I don't really have an issue with the way he treated the Outsiders; that was mostly justified. But the way he treated Kiara just bugged me so much.
For starters, being over-protective. I get that he was worried about her, and he didn't want her to get hurt, but there's a fine line between being a protective parent and smothering. And he just seemed overly-paranoid in general? Like, "danger could be lurking behind every rock!" What danger? The hyenas are gone, the Outsiders are banished for reasons that are never explained, and all the animals of the Pridelands just bowed and payed respects to his daughter like three months ago. Does he honestly think that they're going to kill her?
And he just makes stupid decisions in general, too. Like, sending Timon and Pumbaa? Really? Why not send Zazu? He can fly, he's not a complete idiot, he could quickly fly back to you to report any danger, and he's your Majordomo!
And everything he did during Kiara's hunt scene. Just...everything.
Firstly, you PROMISED to let her hunt by herself. Sending Timon and Pumbaa after her is just plain rude, not to mention its stupid. they could easily mess up her hunt.
Then when Kiara runs off out of frustration [I don't blame her], and gets caught in the fire, Simba claims that what he did was clearly a GREAT idea and that Kiara isn't allowed to hunt anymore because of the fire? Okay, first of all, she ran of because you're a lying liar who lies. Second of all, no hunts ever? Okay, just let her sit around in the den all day long and never do anything! Really, it just came down to this problem: Simba acting like Kiara she never have a life of her own and just sit in her den and never get into trouble. That's just plain bad parenting. Not nearly as bad as Zira, but still.
Honestly, I think Simba should have died during the Outsider ambush. That would have been a good risk to take. But of course we can't take any ricks because Dinsey doesn't LIKE taking risks in their cashcows
Timon and Pumbaa
Honestly, I hate Timon and Pumbaa in general. But I ESPECIALLY hate them here. All they do is be annoying and make crappy jokes that clash with the tone of the film. At least In the first film they did something important to the plot. Here, they do NOTHING! I really think they should have either been cut or had less screen time.
Everyone Else
Nala...what did they DO too you??!! First they soaked you in bleach for months on end to get your fur that light, and the bleach must of affected your brain because where the heck did your fire go??? Yeah, I know that parenting changes people but they made her into this docile sweet motherly...thing. That's not Nala! I could buy her taking on a slightly more maternal role after having cubs, but she wouldn't just become a docile little 1950's housewife!
And where the heck did Sarabi and Sarafine go? I suppose we could say Sarabi died, since her voice actress died too, but still.
Uhh..Rafiki must have had a serious brain deficiency or something because Upendi....
And Zazu did nothing so not gonna bother with that...
Yeah, over all, character are decent, but could have been better. Like, a LOT better.
Technical stuff
Voice Acting
Okay, time for me to be nice for a change! 8D Voice acting is actually pretty good. The returning actors from the original weren't the greatest, though...they phoned it in imo. And Cub Kovu's voice was kinda weird, and I hate Andy Dick. But besides that, everyone was pretty good. I especially like Kiara and Kovu's actors. And Kovu's voice is just...
Songs
I'll just sum it up like this:
He Lives In You: Best song
We Are One: Very good
My Lulluby: Decent
Upendi:
One Of Us: Silly but still good
Love Will Find a Way: Good, but feels kinda out of place
So yeah songs are probably the best part of the movie.
Character designs/colouring
Yeah, the colouring for the original characters was pretty bad. I mean, I already up there about Nala being soaked in bleach for months, but Simba wasn't much better. His mane was a different colour for some reason...
And the colouring in newer characters is mixed. The Outlander's designs are good. Kovu's design is alright, but he looks like someone put Scar and Simba in a blender and pushed high. Plus his mane looks kinda purplish to me.. though that could just be overall weird colouring In the movie. And Kiara's colouring bothers me too. I wish she was given more nala-esque colours [TK Nala colours, not TLK2 Nala colours].
Animation In general
I mean, the animation is better then a lot of other Disney sequels [I'd even argue its better then TLG'S animation] but compared to the original...its just pathetic really, even ignoring the budget. Its not HORRIBLE, but its not good either.
Over all
Yeah, this movie is alright. Not great, but hey at least it's not like Hunchback of Notre Dame 2