Minahzur Rahman It was a good sequel to The Lion King. I watched it plenty of times as a child, and it remains one of my favourite Disney sequels. If you're a fan of The Lion King, then you should also see The Lion King II otherwise don't. Most Disney sequels are pretty poor, but The Lion King II was an exception though it's obviously not as good as the first one. The Lion King II extends things further though a sequel wasn't necessary. I actually preferred if any of the sequels hadn't existed considering how good the first one was.

jonsefcik This movie is a mess! The plot is derivative of the first movie and full of more holes than a kitchen colander! I'll admit the animation is very impressive, especially for a direct-to-DVD movie and is almost as good as the first movie. Unfortunately, its all downhill from there.Let's start at the beginning. The first Lion King has one of the most epic movie openings ever. Its reminiscent of the way Star Wars movies open, with a few moments of silence and then you get punched in the face with an explosion of music. How does its sequel live up to its legacy? It opens with a fade in on giraffes. Boo! Like the first movie, it opens with the animals gathering at Pride Rock for the presentation of the newborn lion cub, we cut to when the cub is a little older, their father tells them to stay away from the Outlands, he sends a supporting character to make sure they don't go there, they ditch the side character, and get in trouble in the Outlands.This leads to a confrontation with Zira, voiced by Suzanne Pleshette, who besides the animation, is probably the best part of the movie. She sounds like she's having so much fun playing this character. She goes on a long exposition dump about how Kovu is her and Scar's son and Simba banished them after he claimed the throne. Just like the first movie, Simba saves Kiara, tells her how he disobeyed her and about the responsibilities of being royalty, and becomes playful with her. Simba sings a song that isn't very good and doesn't advance the story. Then we cut to Zira's family and she sings another song that doesn't advance the plot. Every song in the original Lion King served a purpose (such as how "Just Can't Wait To Be King" shows how Simba and Nala ditched Zazu and got to the elephant graveyard and "Hakuna Matata" shows the passage of time as Simba grows from a cub to an adult) but in Lion King 2 most of the songs feel unnecessary, like they're trying to pad the movie out to get the running time over 80 minutes.There's more comparisons like how Nuka is basically another Scar, a lion who is jealous of a cub in his pride destined to be the future king, but I'll just restrain myself to plot holes. Zira's plot to kill Simba is overly complicated. It involves setting a fire (which is stupid and really pushing the bounds of logic of the Lion King universe) and having Kovu save Kiara, join the Pride Rock pride, and kill Simba there. Why not kill Simba with the fire in the first place? When Kovu is at Pride Rock, the Outlander lions spy on him from over a hill. Why would you do that? If you can see them, they can see you, and that would make Kovu's presence at Pride Rock that much more suspicious.I almost forgot to mention: where's Kion? In The Lion Guard Simba has two cubs, Kiara and Kion, and that show takes place when both of them are cubs. If this is all supposed to take place in the same universe, why isn't Kion in Lion King 2? Continuity?! What's that?!In short, The Lion King 2 has great animation bogged down by a very sloppy story and unmemorable new characters and songs. There's more I could talk about but I think I got most of the big things out of the way. The first Lion King is in the IMDb Top 250, and a film held in such high regard deserves a sequel much better than this. I'm feeling a 3/10 or a generous 4/10.

Jesper Brun Despite its smaller budget I feel that this sequel to one of the grandest animated movies of all captures some of the same magic as the original Lion King. Let me make it clear, it is nowhere near the same epicness of the original, but I enjoyed it. To sum up the good stuff, let me start with the story and then move along. I like that it is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, because why not when the original was based on Hamlet. It also makes Simba's new role as king of the Pridelands and his relationship with his new daughter, Kiara, interesting. The villain in this movie is also pretty good despite some plot holes about the origins of her pride and their connection to Scar. She wants her cub, Kovu, to grow up to take back Pride Rock. And she enjoys every minute of plotting it. It is intense! The romance between Kiara and Kovu is one of the core elements of the movie and is just as credible as Nala and Simba in the first movie, and personally I prefer their love song over "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (don't kill me). Speaking of songs, I actually like the songs compared to the other direct-to-video sequels from Disney. Of course it doesn't stand a chance against "The Circle of Life" and "Be Prepared", but they are not stupid or forgettable, but catchy, heartfelt and well placed in the story. Lastly, I will make a short description of my issues with this movie. Kiara is pretty bland (Simba is more interesting). Timon and Pumbaa are not funny and Zazu without Rowan Atkinson is almost like the Genie without Robbie Willams. The animation is not insulting the original movie, but you can feel the smaller budget.

King Kovu I loved original The Lion King movie since childhood but never cried on it. But The Lion King II: Simba's Pride made me cry! This is absolutely touching story about great power of true love - the Love that can defeat hatred! The first movie is great but pretty simple (well, maybe remake will be more complex) - however, the sequel is much better! And Kovu is my favorite movie character for now!