BEFORE: First thing tonight, I want to give some shouts out to my 2 new favorite pieces of viral entertainment - one is a Vimeo/Youtube clip someone edited together of pieces of dialogue from various famous films - everything from "E.T." and "Annie Hall" to "Back to the Future" and "Total Recall". When set to music, the characters from the various films recite the first verse and chorus of Lionel Richie's 80's sap-fest "Hello". It's a bit jarring at first, but after a few views I began to roll with it, and then I wanted to identify every little clip. Such a simple idea - every word or phrase has been spoken in some film at some time, right? But it's genius in its simplicity - more like this, please, internet people. Copyright clearances be damned.
In a similar vein, I'm getting into this year's "United State of Pop" remix of last year's top 25 hits, as assembled by DJ Earworm. He's done this at last since 2008, taking bits of songs from a year and interweaving them, to form something that's both familiar and original, stitched together and also coherent, creating something new from the pieces of the old. I wasn't digging the 2011 song, "World Go Boom", when I first heard it, but then I watched it with the video and started to figure out where all the pieces came from - Adele, Katy Perry, LMFAO, Bruno Mars. I don't even like most of today's music, but I love it when it's all mashed together - does that make sense? This one might even top the 2009 mix, which was called "Blame It on the Pop".
Tonight my film count stands at 265 - and it was 270 on Jan. 1, 20 days ago, so I'm still adding 3 films for each one I watch, but even though it's slow progress, that still counts as progress.
THE PLOT: Simba's daughter is the key to a resolution of a bitter feud between Simba's pride and the outcast pride led by the mate of Scar.
AFTER: Well, at least tonight I had the advantage of not knowing the plot - that made it easier for me to stay awake and pay attention.
I reckon they gave Simba a daughter so this wouldn't feel like a retread of the first film. But it's still a basic retread of "Romeo & Juliet" (only with a happier ending), in the same ways that "The Lion King" was a retread of "Hamlet", complete with Timon/Rosencrantz and Pumbaa/Guildenstern.
The animation was fine, even though the House of Mouse farmed its direct-to-video sequels off to the Disney Studio in Australia, presumably to save some cash and get it done quicker. But the songs aren't necessarily up to snuff with the original film. "We Are One" is a pale copy of "Circle of Life", and "Love Will Find a Way" wasn't nearly as moving as "Can You Feel the Love Tonight".
Still, it's got action, and conflict, and comic relief, all those things that help keep the ADHD kids focused. So I'm taking a non-committal middle score on this one.
Starring the voices of Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Ernie Sabella (all carrying over from the first film), plus Suzanne Pleshette, Neve Campbell (last seen in "The Craft"), Andy Dick (last seen in "Knocked Up"), and Jason Marsden.
RATING: 5 out of 10 antelope
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