The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar Review

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by BlazeHeartPanther

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I was at my grandpas house during the weekend this aired and I had him record it and we watched it together and I must say that while it does have some flaws, its a good movie for all its worth. I shall elaborate.

Story: This movie takes place befoe Lion King 2 in that it's kind of a midqual, like Bambi 2. Only this time, Kiara has a brother named Kion who is tasked by his father to form a Lion Guard after he discovers a very special roar that Rafiki predicts is now ready for this task. Simba tells Kion that the Lion Guard helps protect the pridelands from oncoming dangers and threats. When Kion forms the group with his friends who are different animals, Simba tells him thats not how the Lion Guard works, but Kion goes to prove him wrong in the finale of the movie. For the most part, the story is pretty decent and what you would expect from a pilot for a cartoon series. Their is just some inconsistencies like Kiara is the same age as Kion (though Kiara as a cub is cute) and their are no Outlands Lions, but Hyenas instead, or how about the fact their isnt an opening for this film that helps elaborate on Kions character a bit, like when he was born or whatever. Other then that though, It's a failry decent story

Characters: First off, we have Kion (Max Charles, Sherman in Mr. Peabody and Sherman) The son of Simba who wants nothing more then the aproval of his father and to take resposebility for the Lion Guard. He is determined, brave, and quite friendly to his fellow animal friends whom he acuires to join in his little brigade. Next is Bunga (Joshua Rush) who is not only the comedic character out of these bunch of characters, but is quite loyal to his friend Kion and wants nothing more then to be a big support to the Lion Guard to which his adopted uncles Timon and Pumbaa couldn't be any more prouder. Simba (Rob Lowe, the West Wing) is the father to Kion and is quite unsure at first on if he thinks his son is ready or not to take on the duties of managing the Lion Guard, he is upset at first by Kions choices, but later lets go of it at the end. Janja (Andrew Kishina, Star Wars the Clone Wars) is the leader of the Hyenas of the outlands who want nothing more then to throw the pridelands off balance by slaughtering all of the animals so that the circle of life is thrown into chaos and unorder. For the most part, some of these new addtions are nice, but a lot is thrown off balance. Kiara is taking her queen roles responsibly despite not wanting to be queen in the second movie when she was a cub, feels out of character, also, the voice choices are a bit odd. Why is Rob Lowe doing simbas voice. It doesn't even sound close to Mathew Brodrick, why didn't they choose Cam Clarke to play the voice like he did for the Timon and Pumbaa show and Kingdom Hearts 2? The one I think they got right was Rafiki who, despite being voiced by Khary Payton (Cyborg from Teen Titans), did a surprisingly great job mimicing his original voice actor Robert Guilaume, he'd definatly be proud of him.

Animation: FINALLY, some 2-D animation, how I miss thee. The show really captures how the animation for the show should be and should always stick to being. None of that transfering it to 3D shit or flash animation the fuck out of it. Nothing but good, pure, clean 2D animation. with some liberties of CG here and their for movements of characters and lighting, but I can live with that. The character animations are handled pretty nicely as well, and while they are not as fluid as the original animators, they still capture the feel and the expression of the character they are animating.

Music: what was really great about the music was capturing the swahili vibe of the original movie to make it that more authentic. It's certainly not Lebo M, but it gets the right amount down to make it feel more from it's country of origin. The overal score was not to bad either, it's certainly not Hans Zimmer, but the composer (whos not mentioned on IMDB) did a pretty good job at capturing the feel of the movie. as for the songs, they aren't anything special to write home about, but they are terrible by any means, they just don't compare to the original songs. Beau Black (Miles of Tomorrowland) wrote the songs for the movie. First up is Zuka Zamba, which is supposed to be the Hakunna Matata of this movie, and it does a fair job at sounding catchy, but then the song "Tonight We Strike" plays and I must say, was rather impressed by it. It's certainly not Be Prepared, but its a fairly good villain song that gets the job done, and last is Kion's Lament after his father disaproves of his sons choices for the Lion Guard. While it's nothing tear jerking, it's a good song for Max Charles to sing for his does a fair job at it.

all in all, I would have to give this film a 7 out of 10. For all the problems that it has, it wasn't enough to deter me away from a nice return to a Disney classic. at least it didn't try to twist things around to much like Maleficent (Ugh) I say if your a fan of the Lion King Series, you might get a kick out of it, just don't expect anything to extravegent from it, after all, it is for a show that will air of Disney Junior. but at least give it a shot before you judge, you might be surprised.

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