Film Review: Mulan

Mulan is a lovely story set in an ancient time in China when the emperor’s rule came under attack by the Huns as in "Attilla the Hun". Mulan, the only child and daughter of one of the prominent families does the biblical "Jacob and Esau" switcheroo by drugging her father, donning his battle armor, and going off to war against the Huns in her father’s place, all to save his aging life. Somewhat flat chested, she fools the good looking army captain whom she has to constantly remind herself that she too, is a boy, to keep from showing her infatuation with him.

The story picks up momentum when after being trained, the new recruits march off to war and Mulan single handedly defeats most of the Hun army by cleverly inducing an avalanche that swallows the Hun incursion. Unfortunately she is forced to reveal her true gender to the doctor who repairs her battle injuries. The young captain’s stubborn and ancient male pride brands her a disgrace and she is forced out the army.

Before going to camp her father discovers what she’s done and dispatches the family ancestors to parade over her and help her through. The unlikeliest of heroes, a dragon called Mushu cleverly played by the voice of Eddie Murphy, is fantastic. Through Mushu’s quick wit, clever insight combined with Mulan’s bravery, and a little help from an unlucky cricket called ‘Lucky’, they prevail. The story is about the underdog and optimism to see the weak win -- and to that point, Mulan delivers. Another notable voice performance is by George Takei who plays the oldest ancestor. Wonderfully sarcastic, he’s great fun.

As you might have guessed, she saves the empire, gets the boy, and lives happily ever after. The ninety minute film is not brilliantly shot. The animation was nowhere near the production value of Beauty and the Beast. The complexions were unrealistic and seemed to change from scene to scene. The overall scenery was stoic and uninspiring forcing the viewer to cling to the superior story the film was created around. Some of the animation was so lazy that it barely ranked better than the current crop of Saturday morning cartoons. If you rent Beauty and the Beast and see the ballroom dance scene, you’ll know what I mean. If you see the Little Mermaid and witness Arial’s undersea treasure trove, again, you’ll see what I mean. This however is not so bad as it may seem, you see most of the children this film was intended for will never notice the substandard animation, so why should Disney spend the extra to impress an audience not as demanding as an adult crowd? It’s us parents who will groan because we’ve come to expect so much from Disney.

Finally, the music: there are some very good songs on the CD but do not, I repeat, DO NOT rush out to purchase the soundtrack because it is clear that since the 1991death of Oscar winning producer/lyricist, Baltimore’s Howard Ashman, Disney’s music has sunk. The new musical kid on the block is Mathew Wilder. He has a bright future for sure but the music of Mulan is not Oscar quality as before. Alan Menken’s name was conspicuously absent from the credits too. It was Menken and Ashman that made Disney music magic. Perhaps Jerry Goldsmith and Wilder can restore the magic in time.

See you at the movies

Film Review: Mulan: