Lion King 2: Better than other Disney sequels, but not great
There’s been a long line of terrible Disney sequels, The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2, Lady and the Tramp 2, The Little Mermaid 2–and the list goes on. Lion King 2 doesn’t rank as highly on the list of terrible sequels because my sister and I have actually seen it more than once. Now I’m not saying this sequel was great, but it was better than most of the Disney sequel roster and here's why.
Where the story gets it right:
The first Lion King is a classic Shakespearean tale: an evil brother hates his virtuous elder sibling and wants to kill him, taking the kingdom. That movie is a whole different article altogether, but for the sake of this film what needs to be noted is that Lion King 2 begins under a similarly tragic framework. The outlining of the first act is done extremely well to set up the character’s wants and desires.
ACT I
Simba has exiled Zira (who I’m assuming was Scar’s mate) from the pride lands. Simba has a child of his own in the luxurious pride lands named Kiara whose birth is celebrated by all.
Zira is raising a child of her own named Kovu in the dilapidated outskirts of the pride lands amongst a much more villainous savage group around the same time.
Kovu and Kiara meet as children. Both their parents are mortal enemies and if they were old or mature enough to understand the context of their lives and lineage they would be enemies; but, because they meet as innocent children they’re friends. They save each other’s lives genuinely as children and are separated when their parents find out. Presumably they don’t see each other again till adulthood.
Zira is initially angry about Kovu speaking to Kiara but then reasons that if he could gain her trust, they would have a means to kill Simba and retake the pride lands. Zira then raises him with that sole purpose and glories in the idea her son will exact her revenge.
This is a strong set up for the first act because it quickly lays out every character's wants and desires. We know our protagonist and what she wants as well as the antagonists.
ACT II
Kovu and Kiara both grow into adulthood with their respective parents overseeing their decisions. Kiara is raised safe and protected by her father Simba with all the love and affection a girl needs from her father. Kovu is raised to desire revenge for his mother Zira and trained to kill Simba.
Kiara has her first hunt (touch of unrealistic story here though because she wants to hunt on her own and no lioness does that). Zira plans to set fire to the field where Kiara is hunting and send Kovu to rescue her so that he’ll earn Simba’s trust. The plan doesn't go as smoothly as he’d hoped but Kovu does save her life.
Simba’s initially untrusting of Kovu but agrees to give him a chance reluctantly. Kovu is deceiving them so he can get close and kill Simba. He’s brought to the pridelands but not accepted by anyone except Kiara.
All of this is decent storytelling so far. Kovu is made out to be a villain who we can assume is going to get a redemption arc, but the plot isn't laying him out to be terribly sympathetic since he’s only in the pride lands to kill Kiara’s father. That makes for good dramatic tension. We as the audience need to see how Kovu will alter his goals from villainous ones when that's all he’s known, and we have to see how he’ll address the consequences of his deception being discovered. Somewhere towards the end of ACT II is where the plot starts to decline. What do I mean by that?
The build up is better than the climax:
What immediately makes the quality of the story go down hill is the lack of consequences for actions taken. You can have a great set up but if the conclusion falls flat or is made into a joke the rest of the story becomes less convincing.
Kovu is set up to have been raised by an evil mother who instilled a “lust for being bad” in him at an early age. She raised him to hate Simba and to kill him, which Kovu seems intent on doing when we meet him as an adult, but this desire goes away immediately after his first night in the Pride lands. Kovu attempts to sneak up on Simba once, is stopped by Kiara for a fun playdate/training session and then magically forgets all his upbringing. His desire for revenge is gone as is any plan of hurting anyone in the Pride lands.
The discovery of Kovu’s treachery is weak. When Simba’s giving him a chance it feels like forever since he had any desire to harm anyone. It stopped after his first day in the pride lands so Simba being untrusting feels a little silly from the viewer’s perspective. When Zira’s lionesses jump him, Kovu is literally there telling them to stop and saying he’s innocent, but Simba still blames him. If Kovu had planned that to kill Simba wouldn't it make more sense to be rubbing the victory in his face not standing there objecting? There’s no one else to fool at that point.
Simba returns and exiles Kovu telling people he tried to kill him. Kiara is in love with Kovu so I understand her being biased, but she never actually experiences a feeling of betrayal against him. Even if he didn't try to kill her father, Kovu doesn't deny its initially why he came there. Kiara never looks as if she feels betrayed by him.
We see the death of Kovu’s brother, Nuka, and it’s supposed to make Kovu feel guilty for turning away from Zira and his family…I guess? He was such a lame character his death didn't matter. It also doesn't lead Kovu to take any definitive action which affects the plot. I understand the movie was influenced by Romeo and Juliet but in that play the death of Romeo’s friend affects his actions. Romeo kills Tybult because Tybult kills Mercutio. In this movie the lame character Nuka dying affects nothing. It doesn't lead Kovu to do anything villainous or drastic.
What all of this gets at is that the film is a failed attempt to duplicate the forbidden lovers tragedy from feuding families which is depicted in Romeo and Juliet. There were many dramatic confrontations that the film missed or underplayed. Kiara never deals with Kovu’s betrayal; Kovu never realistically overcomes his harsh upbringing and everything he was raised to do (it feels like he turns good in a heartbeat because he likes Kiara).
What would have made it better:
Kovu should have actually struggled with the idea of not killing Simba. He should have been intent to do so up until ¾ of the film. It’s what his mother raised him to do. And Simba did assist in killing Scar as well as exile his mother Zira and force him into a life of basically poverty and starvation. His relationship with Kiara should have led him to feel contrition and eventually overcome his upbringing but it shouldn't happen overnight.
The death of a character should have mattered. I liked Sarabi so I didn't want her to die, but if she had died it would have mattered more because she’s like Kovu’s little sister. If you were continuing with the Romeo and Juliet layout then her death would lead Kovu to take action against someone from Pride Rock and then be exiled so that he couldn't be with Kiara.
Kiara should have dealt with Kovu coming there to kill her father. We don’t hear from anyone, aside from Simba, and we never get Nala’s perspective. In a story of feuding families you have to show what the families think.
The ending battle scene was decent, but overall the lack of dramatic consequences and confrontations in the story make it a sub par film. The humor is a bit excessive in the second half of the film, and the musical number Upendi deserves to be taken out in the street and shot. Those kind of sequences make the movie's tone much sillier and the conclusion less intense. It’s not bad, but it could have been great.
-Jubilee