Just saw the prequel of the remake (created since Disney likes money, which they are desperate for some these days), because I am a long time Lion King fan.

And to put long story short, take it or leave it.

The story is straightforward, being a prequel posited as a story told to Kiara (once again, canonizing her for the movies), while she waits for her parents to come back with Kion (yep, he is canonized fully too.)

I have some thoughts. On the one hand, I do like some of the ideas they put out, including making Scar a nice little lion before becoming evil (Seems to be getting more popular these days, like Transformers One. By the way, watch that movie, it is CRIMINAL it could not gain enough of box office.) Some of the beat the had were also pretty great. I don't mind that they are not related, because it allows to forego the whole problem with Kovu AND helps to establish why Scar felt demeaned without making Mufasa clueless.
On the other, this is EXTREMELY contradictory to the original (Scar's "end of the gene pool" speech made it clear that both were related by blood, and Zazu knew Mufasa since his birth, meaning he couldn't have been Sarabi's majordomo), they clearly needed one more rewrite, as well as more straighter direction, because they clearly chose to write it as a prequel to the original animated move and not the 2019 remake. You could tell, because most of the changes they were going for in there. And yet, there are many writing bits and pieces that should've been either done away with, redone, or thrown away.

So, here's my personal additions to the story. SPOILERS AHEAD

- Have Mufasa actually be a prince. I don't care that Disney wants to have no "Royal Bloodlines", keep him blue-blooded. It makes a lot more sense with the rest of the lore anyways.

- Have him get into trouble because he was trying to show off for his king father, and not because he randomly got into a flood and separated from them. Do the whole thing where he was trying to make himself greater, only to get humbled and that's what keeps him from trying harder from the most of the movie. He doesn't want to screw up again.

- Make Taka actually crafty. For one, the reason he is named Taka is because he was the only cub who survived the outsiders because of his craftiness, despite how much his own father saw him as the runt compared to other cubs. Note, he never had other siblings, he was just one in line.

- Meanwhile, despite his craftiness, make him a good manipulator too, AND have tendency to choose path of least resistance. Have the story take the side that he knows how to get out of trouble, but he was never good at head on confrontation. That's why he feels so bad around Mufasa after a while, sure the latter puts himself down, but he does things Taka would never dreamed to be able to do.

- Have the scene of him trying to talk Sarabi into joining them and then flirt with Sarabi by trying to be sincere, but failing to make it work. He is a crafty lion, but when he has to confront people, he fails spectacularly. Make this the reason he couldn't help but reveal to her that Mufasa likes her.
Also, make it clear that he feels betrayed by Mufasa being something more than he could ever be, which is why he is so upset when they get together.

- In the end, when he "betrays" the gang, reveal mid-fight that he actually set it up so that he planned on stabbing Kiros in the back, and that, while Mufasa is the brute force, Taka was always the brains.

- However, his attempt ended up in a failure, and he was given a choice to die by Kiros's claw trying to save Mufasa, or run away as fast as he can, while Kiros takes care of his brother. Taka takes a step back and watches Mufasa fight for his life only to be held down. As he takes his final swing, Taka jumps and takes the blow across the face, but that knocks him out and sends him flying into the chasm abyss. Mufasa charges at Kiros and takes both of them into the watery below.

- After managing to defeat Kiros, Mufasa is saved by Taka, but the latter acts a bit different, saying he has a bit of a bump in his head "I feel like I did something I never thought I'd do. I'm like a whole new lion!"

- Mufasa is mentioning about the betrayal, but Taka says, "I understand, but I have saved our lives again, didn't I?"
Mufasa eyes him. "You put us in danger in the first place!"
"And if it weren't for me, he still would've been after us." He notices Mufasa's eyes look down, and then Sarabi starts to come closer. Avoiding meeting her gaze, he tells Mufasa, "You have proven yourself far more than I ever did. I am sorry...brother."
Mufasa looks at him again.
"I am no king. I could never be the king they wanted from me. Unlike you."
"I am not a king."
"You have everything. Things I never even dreamed of. And you would throw it away now?" Taka stares directly in his eyes, "Don't fool either of us, Mufasa. Stop stalling and make yourself king. I'll wait my turn." He turns to go.
"Taka!" Mufasa shouts, stopping him. "I owe many things to you. Which is why I want you to stay by my side. Let us rule together, as brothers."
Taka slowly shows the side of his face. "I'd rather not share the spotlight. Not quite my thing. Also, don't call me Taka anymore, I despised that name." He chuckled. "You can, however, call me Scar. Sounds quite impressive, don't you think?"


...And those are my ideas. I understand that it is still contradictory (to both movies, again, since the remake basically lifted all the same dialogue script, so same ideas apply here), but if this was what they were going for, that's what I would add. In any case, this movie isn't the worst, but also could've been better.