Mulan II (2004)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

not horrible nor great

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The story of this sequel seems to heavily favor individualism to an extreme when compared to the original, yet it also paradoxically implies that women (the Princesses in particular) are simply thralls of the Emperor and needed a man to 'bring them to life'. In the original: the relationship between Shang and Mulan started as trust/friendship -something that would not have been possible between a man and a women if she hadn't hidden her gender, furthermore -Shang's family seems to have a high social status even compared to Mulan's; which would have made a relationship even more unlikely. Here we have 3 Imperial princesses falling in 'love' with 3 less than sophisticated soldiers -just because? um?...they don't want to get married off so they get cozy with their guards?Everyone is pretty selfish in this movie: the princesses, the soldiers, Muushu, Shang and even Mulan. She appears to do something selfless by agreeing to marry the Gong Prince (becoming a princess and eventually the Empress) but that only lasts until Shang returns. Both she and Shang then abandon their mission to save China and get married -Shang conveniently having forgot that he and Mulan had appeared to 'break up'. Furthermore: Apart from puppet trick outside the tent -Muushu only created situations in which conflict between Shang and Mulan naturally arose (Waking up Shang so that he catches Mulan and the soldiers going behind his back -Muushu only helped make Shang aware of what was going on, he didn't make Mulan or the soldiers do what they did).So what about the Mongols? you know the whole reason for the marriages and the alliance? They kind of are guilty of treason against their Emperor/country -I can't imagine he is happy about the betrayals. I also wonder how happy-go-lucky they all will be when the Mongols are raping and murdering their way through China because of them. meh.

This movie dosen't work much a sequel to "Mulan" (which is one my favorite Disney movies).While the first had an epic plot, this one is very simple - in fact it's almost a sitcom setup. We only get one bigger action scene in the third act and the rest of the movie is character developing their relations as they travel from point "A" to point "B". We get more Mulan/Shang relation, we get romance between three warriors and Emperors daughters (new character) and more Mushu/Mulan relations... In fact it's almost like a romantic comedy set in ancient China.And I will be honest - if this was the pilot for "MULAN THE ANIMATION SERIES" (or "MULAN'S VALENTINE DAY SPECIAL") I would enjoy it.True the animation is far from movie standards but it's still pretty darn good. All the characters relation stuff are sweet (especialy all the stuff between the warriors and the princesses) and interesting, few scenes made me laugh and I actually like the songs.So yhe, this movie isn't how a sequel should be made but if you love those characters you may actually find this interesting and enjoyable.The only thing I didn't like is the fact that they made the ancestor ghosts characters less sympathetic and Mulan doesn't get to shine like she did in the fist movie (the lack of the whole "pretend to be a boy" aspect was what made here fun was the best thing about her in the first movie and we don't get this at all in this one... they just talk abut it)

Mulan I was a good movie. Mulan II is not. I'll sum up the various reasons this installment was not good.1) The heavy-handed dialog. There's no room for subtlety in this film, unlike the last one. Everything is spelled out and parsed down, treating the audience like idiots.2) Shang's death that wasn't. The scene where Shang falls down a ravine in the line of duty, having been involved in a fight with his fiancée Mulan and his last words are, "I'm sorry," followed by Mulan's mourning was easily the best part of the movie. Unfortunately, all meaning was thrown out the window moments later when it is revealed that he actually improbably survived his fall. This turned a potentially really interesting plot point into an excuse for the next course of action.3) Ridiculous character vs. society setup. Mulan in the first film was against her society simply because she didn't fit into it. Mulan of this film is portrayed as a modern-day American woman dropped into this society, because not only does she disregard its rules, she doesn't even know them.4) The blatant ethnocentrism. Hearkening back to #3, this film imposes very American, very modern ideas and customs and presenting them as superior to what it assumes are the customs of the day. This is made most obvious when the princesses sing about being "like other girls," when what they are describing is being like American girls.5) The secondary characters. Remember those three soldiers Mulan befriended? They're back and now they have a clichéd love story. I would write more, but there's really nothing more to say about that.6) The blatant misunderstanding of how relationships work. Long story short: Mushu wants to break up Mulan and Shang so he sparks an argument between them over a legitimate issue. It works and he feels guilty so he confesses to Mulan. She is understandably angry, but then states that all of her disagreement with Shang was entirely Mushu's fault. What?! They had an actual fight and genuinely disagreed about something. Just because Mushu was the catalyst for this particular situation doesn't mean you can gloss over that.

Mulan is without a doubt my favorite Walt Disney movie, and I cherish it as one of my favorite movies ever in general. With that said, it's pretty clear I had high hopes set for Mulan II, and even though I was certainly not expecting it to precede Mulan at all, I was hoping for it to have the same charm and enchantment as it did. Mulan II is an impressive achievement that definitely does justice to the first, and did justice to my expectations.What is really great about this film is it's overall sense and essence of fun that the first kind of kept mellow and shied away from. Don't get me wrong, I thought Mulan was indeed perfect, but you can compare the two films and obviously see that Mulan II is meant to have more jubilance, and is meant to be more fun and joyful than the first. The film also has excellent songs that I can't help but get stuck in my head, like the "(I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls" bit that the thought of it is making me sing now, and the "Lesson Number One" sequence that I walk around chanting at random times now and then, haha. They are amazingly catchy and well done just like the songs in the first were.The best thing about this movie though is it's beauty. I think there were so many captivating scenes that were excellently displayed, though the animation was a bit choppy, and the message is just as pure as in the first one, though the first undeniably executes it better. The colors were effervescent, and managed to overthrow a lot of the second-rate animation faults, and one scene that sticks out in my mind is when Shang proposes, because the tree where Mulan and her dad had the most touching scene of the first Mulan film is colored and exhibited gorgeously.Some things that keep this from being better than it could be is the animation, like I've said, because even though there are beautiful scenes, the animation is quite childlike. Another thing is Shang's lack of personality about halfway through and how Mushu became so incredibly selfish that his character seemed out of place. They were basically like puppets to the creators instead of becoming actual characters themselves, unlike in the first where they had distinct traits and were likable for their definitive individuality, although Mushu does pull through at the end. The voiceovers didn't bother me as much as I thought they would, even though I wish some of the original people would've came back.In any matter, Mulan II is insane fun, incredibly entertaining, undeniably charming and beautifully crafted. The characters and animation are mediocre at times, but it never fails at keeping up with the spark that the first had. It's far, far better than the Aladdin sequels, and as a film itself it's well done and just overall an astonishing delight that I am glad I gave a chance. Don't let the "direct-to-video" fool you, because this should have been released in theatres to give more people a chance to see what an admirable sequel it is; job well done.