Mulan Reviews

Si bien se puede interpretar como película de transición a la subversión ideológica en el cine respecto a los roles de los sexos. En realidad creo que Mulan, aun si "subversiva" para cierta época, en la actual es completamente incompatible. Mulan no es sobre la relatividad de los roles de cada sexo, es sobre la inevitabilidad de estos, es completamente contraria a la ideología moderna. Mulan, aun haciéndose pasar por hombre, no deja de ser mujer en rol y preferir el rol femenino. Los demás, pese a notar su gran fortaleza, notan rasgos característicos femeninos inseparables a ella aun si se hace pasar por un "él". La realidad es que esto, sería imposible de producir hoy día para una empresa como Disney.

Agradable sorpresa que pudo irse fácilmente por el ridículo tema de igualdad de genero pero que en su lugar decide hacer algo mucho mejor. Es esta chica que a pesar de ser un poco diferente de las demás siempre busca la manera de horrar a su familia al mismo tiempo que cuida de los suyos. Es tras ver que su padre no está en condiciones de pelear que decide tomar su lugar y a pesar de que mas adelante ella se cuestiona si fue su única motivación para ir a pelear jamás se termina de sentir cómoda en el papel del sexo opuesto por lo que decide regresar a casa con su familia. Los villanos son planos por lo que no son el fuerte de la historia, aun así se las arreglan para presentarlos como una amenaza real. La comedia está bien colocada, tiene personajes agradables y supo jugar con las debilidades físicas de Mulán frente a las del sexo opuesto compensándolas con ingenio.

Starting with 1992’s Aladdin, Disney produced a series of films which diversified their output during the Renaissance. Typically, a Disney feature is a western Euro-centric musical, slightly homogenous in appearance and style. These stabs at diversification are not without strains and problems, occasionally leaning very hard on coded racial imagery, intentional or not, with lead characters featuring more European features than the villainous and supporting characters.

 

Mulan is one of the better tries at expanding what a Disney film can look like, or what kind of story it can tell. But like a few other films in the Renaissance, it feels slightly scared of venturing too far out of safe waters. This is what I have a hard time separating in my mind, I keep thinking about the movie Disney could have made instead of the one that they did.

 

I don’t think I can be entirely blamed for this, the seeds for a more daring and adventurous film are right there. The original folktale, or the most well-known version, has a young girl cutting her hair, taking her father’s place in the army, and becoming a highly decorated and trusted warrior, returning home after a dozen years a hero, and shocking China after discarding her male disguise to reveal their greatest hero was a warrior woman. It plays with gender conventions, and gives girls a bad ass hero to look up to. Mulan follows this in the broad strokes, but undermines it slightly in the end.

 

The presence of goofy sidekicks proved problematic in a few other films, notably The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Mulan has a similar problem going for it. Cri-kee and Mushu are nowhere to be found in the original tale, additions to increase revenue and merchandising opportunities within the studio. I would prefer a version with their absence, Eddie Murphy’s rapid-fire delivery is at odds with the more serious film surrounding it. The cricket just adds nothing to the story, a fact which the film-makers knew during production, but they thought it was cute.

 

My other major problem with Mulan is the romance, which feels shoe-horned into the narrative. An attraction between the two is fine, but they spend so little time together that the finale’s reunion of the two as some grand statement of love is odd. Maybe even off-putting, as so much of Mulan’s character has been about dismantling the confining gender roles in her society that her character returning to domesticity with the prospect of a handsome husband feels incongruous to her character. There’s no spark to this romance.

 

A minor problem is the villains, they’re just not very threatening or memorable. They’re an off-screen threat for much of the film, and more boogeymen than anything else. Their appearance is slightly distracting from everything around them. Their grey skin, haute couture fashions, and black eyes with yellow pupils read more as alien than anything else. Which could be read in a distressing manner if you wanted, I suppose. I find it just an odd artistic choice since they look like they wandered in from an Alexander McQueen photoshoot.

 

While I find these facets of the film off-putting, everything else about Mulan works well. The animation borrows from Chinese watercolors, giving the smoke patterns massive amounts of swirls and fluidity of movement. The character designs are more simplistic, more angular, but no less expressive, another way Chinese watercolors influenced the art. One musical number literalizes this homage by creating a moving watercolor painting. It’s lovely to look at, and creates several sequences a tremendous bravado and technical skill.

 

Even better is how Mulan fulfills the promise of the more proactive heroines in these films. While Ariel and Jasmine got side-lined so the boys could save the day, and Pocahontas was a personality-free blank space for various men to project onto, Mulan is the driving and dominating force. Her choices and agency is never called into question, and she frequently calls out sexism against her. Yes, this feels several centuries ahead of its time, and like Western ideology intruding, but I’ll take it if it means better female characters emerging from the studio.

If I recall correctly, I actually saw this movie when it was released because my girlfriend at the time was a huge Disney fan. Damned, it was almost 20 years ago! I feel so old right now... Anyway, even though I really enjoyed it and even though it was definitely a solid effort from Disney, it never really became one of their real classics, at least, in my opinion. Basically, it was a fascinating story taking place in Asia for once, an area never explored by Disney before. However, even though it worked very well during the darker and dramatic moments, those scenes were constantly undermined by some rather underwhelming supposedly funny sequences. Take the intro with Mulan for example, it was a just a rather cringe-inducing segment supposed to make you smile but, in fact, it completely ridiculed some Chinese tradition without giving any insight on the purpose of this tradition. That was also the problem in this movie, the way it was constantly shifting between showing the Chinese culture and history and then showing some gross Americanism along the way. At least, Mushu was pretty good even if it was pretty obvious that they tried to get the same results they had with Robin Williams with 'Aladdin'. Obviously, Murphy never reached that level but he was still entertaining enough. Eventually, 3 years later, he would have much more success giving Donkey's voice in 'Shrek'. I also loved Shan-Yu who must be one of the most badass villains in Disney's history. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still really liked the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I’ve seen many animated movies including 'Mulan' which focuses on a young woman Mulan (Lea Salonga) whose father (Soon-Tek Oh) is old and about to fight in a war, Mulan pretends to be a man and runs away from home in order to save her father

The characters are creative, Mulan passes herself off as a man, Mushu (Eddie Murphy) is hilarious, Shang (BD Wong) is strong, Chi-Fu (James Hong) who is a protagonist but mean and even sexist. Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) is a very forgettable villain though to the point where I can't remember a thing about him

'Mulan' may not be the best Disney classic (Wreck-It Ralph is my favourite) but it’s still a good movie and here are some more reasons:

The animation is very good (like most Disney movies).

There are some funny scenes including Mushu burning the feathers off the evil bird and when Ling (Gedde Watanabe), Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo) and Yao (Harvey Fierstein) dress up like women in order to fight the villains

Mulan is one of the most epic classic and atypical Disney, first because it seems to appeal to a more adult audience, featuring the exploits of a hero in the army and in the battle, secondly because a little resignation enormous charisma characters to which we are accustomed Disney classics, by enhancing the history and majesty of the tape.

However, the touch of humor, you can not miss in any classic, bring the dragon Mushu and Mulan's fellow soldiers will cause us many laughs, unpayable training sequences, although generally not the most hilarious classic . The Oscar-nominated soundtrack is another strong point of the film and follows up perfectly from the battle of life at home Mulan.

Surely, few placed in the top positions in their personal ranking Disney classics, but what is clear is that the film has a more pleasant viewing without excessive sentimentality songs or even a redundant love story, but telling a beautiful story of adventure and personal growth with excellent animation, several emblematic moments and colorful unsurpassed.

Best: Mulan training.
Worst: the enemy does not go down in history as villains.

One could make a compelling argument that Mulan is basically no different than any other Disney princess film. And in a way, this is true. All the basic cliches are here: Outcast wanting to prove herself, supporting cast there for comic relief, and obviously the romantic element. To be honest, there's little about Mulan that hasn't already been covered by other Disney films. But here's the catch: The formula works. And that's why; despite it's lack of originality, Mulan not only succeeds, but flourishes.

Mulan, a young Chinese girl is determined to bring honor to her family, and prevent her father from going to war by going in his place, masquerading as a man. A tiny dragon named Mushu and a "lucky" cricket tag along to aid Mulan on her quest.

The romance element is (perhaps for the better) played down. In fact, it almost isn't there at all, merely added to increase character depth, and make it so supporting character Li Shang actually has something to do.

The setting in China is used to great effect, though the animation is surprisingly simplistic. Some shots are quite gorgeous (such as when villain Shan Yu's army is coming to battle in the snow), though it's not quite as eye popping as usual.

There are 4 songs total (not counting reprises). Though these tunes aren't quite up to snuff with that of Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid, they are absolutely delightful (and miles ahead of modern day Disney songs). The first song in the movie is the strongest, though sadly, it's also the least known. Entitled, "Honor To Us All," this song near the opening is by far the most humorous and entertaining.

Other songs fare less well, but all of them have their strengths. "Reflection" is beautiful, but it's too short, and as one of the main themes in the movie, it's woefully underplayed. "I'll Make A Man Out Of You," has great lyrics, but the animation and sight gags steal the show, lessening the impact of the song. "A Girl Worth Fighting For" brings back some of the humor of "Honor To Us All," and is even a bit more catchy. Still, it's far from a showstopper.

The score (by the late Jerry Goldsmith) is perhaps slightly underwhelming when considering the potential, but it works well and is mostly pleasant. It also takes advantage of the setting, though percussion is way too strong at some points.

Characters are a bit of a mixed bag. Mulan is likeable, but does little to separate herself from, say, Belle. The villain, Shan Yu is incredibly generic, and even if he was more interesting, he has very little screen time. Li Shang has no personality, and only exists as the romantic interest. The most memorable characters are the nonspeaking lucky cricket, and the pint-sized dragon named Mushu (Eddie Murphy). Mushu, while not quite reaching Genie status, has lots of quotable lines and will leave children and their parents chuckling.

Perhaps if Mulan did more to separate itself from other Disney films, it would reach masterpiece status. Still, as it stands, Mulan is marvelous. Entertaining, heartfelt, and well worth watching Mulan reaches heights that other studios struggle to reach. Mulan's not perfect, but it's superior entertainment.

Released near the end of the so-called Disney Renaissance, this Tony Bancroft directed cartoon shows us why Disney was a monster, and I do mean a huge one, in the 90's. Most of Disney's strongest works were in the 90's and not mentioning Mulan would be a shame. The animation is very fluid, the concept is good but, even for a cartoon, seemed to steeped in fantasy and by-chance events. I've also read in several places that many critics were not happy with the songs and I heartfully disagree. The songs, in my opinion, are one of Disney's best efforts to date and each fits the scene perfectly. The music is superb too, especially the Mulan's Decision score... beautiful!

I enjoyed almost everyone's V.O., especially Ming-Na as the titular role (remember her from Street Fighter?) and she bought a-lot of verbal warmness and realism to her character and made Mulan one of Disney's best heroines. From the supporting, I enjoyed Eddie Murphy as Mushu, a dream role for many. Since the advent of Robin Williams, the fast-voice-over technique was adopted by many and Eddie Murphy still stands out as one of the best. I somewhat liked Miguel Ferrer's V.O. as Shan Yu, the main antagonist. Maybe because he wasn't given enough screen-time? I think Goran Visnjic might've been a better choice.

Now, the film starts off brilliantly, has great moments and one-liners but it loses its focus and stability badly, very badly, from the point where Shan Yu finds out Mulan is a girl. From there everything seemed hurried and rushed, as if the crew wanted to finish it off quickly. And the ending, well, totally different from other Disney works and it was just OK, could've done times better.

In conclusion, I enjoyed it and it has great songs and stands up against most of the previous Disney productions, although not all and is the second-last greatest Disney production ever... the last was Tarzan, released one year later.

8.5/10

Mulan is my favorite Disney movie! The music is fantastic, and granted, it has a few miniscule flaws in the animation, but the story is probably the best one of Disney's out there. It's incredibly inspirational, and Mulan's cross-dressing may helped a few people to examine themselves about who they, too, really are. This movie is entirely about finding yourself, and it's so amazing. I absolutely love it. I recommend that anyone who has not seen it, watch it, and you'll be hooked on it! :)