MULAN
RATING: 7 / 10 --> Good movie
Review Date:
June 23, 1998
Directors:
Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
Writers:
Anonymous (poem), Robert D. San Souci, Rita Hsiao,
Chris Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer, Eugene
Bostwick-Singer
Producer:
Pam Coats
Actors:
Ming-Na
Wen as the voice of
Mulan
Eddie Murphy as the voice of Mushu
B.D. Wong as the voice of Shang
Genre:
Children's
Animation
Year of Release:
1998
Based on an old Chinese folktale, this movie becomes Disney's
36th animated feature, and its best since THE LION KING (7.5/10)
back in 1994.
PLOT:
The Huns have invaded China. One man from every Chinese family
must join the Army and serve in the country's defense.
Recognizing that her father is very old and incapable of
effective combat duty, Mulan chops her hair into a boy-cut, and
pretends to be a man, so that she can take her father's place in
the war. She does effectively join the troops, and fight for the
honour of her father, her country and herself.
CRITIQUE:
Funny, interesting, and mostly entertaining animated Disney
feature made for the marketing summer of 1998. Having gone in
with little expectations, I must say that I was pleasantly
surprised to find many humorous moments in this animated fable,
along with some pretty cool action sequences, and an interesting
lead character in Mulan. Of course, it goes without saying that
the real star of this film wasn't Mulan, but the tiny disgraced
dragon Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy. This little creature
managed to get a crack out of the audience during every single
one of its wonderful appearances on the big screen. Reminded me a
little of the "young" Murphy on Saturday Night Live,
before he got all pretty and serious (Surely, many of the lines
in this film were ad-libbed by Murphy himself.).
The story of this film was also very interesting to absorb,
seeing that it went within a culture that I knew very little
about (Mind you, I really have no idea how accurate this film's
facts are, but still...). The animation was also very well done,
especially during the winter scenes in the mountains, which
really looked like the real deal. On the down side, I guess that
the songs in this movie could be considered its weakest link, but
then again, I've never been much of a musical guy anyway, so that
didn't bother me too much.
Overall, I would say this movie was a touch better than HERCULES (6.5/10), and just about as good as the unexpectedly decent
ANASTASIA (7/10), but on a much funnier level, thanks mostly to
the wonderful talents of Eddie Murphy. Kids will love it (As
loudly expressed in the theater that I attended with Mrs. JoBlo),
and most adults should also enjoy it. The cinema or video
question is one that I would just as soon leave in your hands
considering that I don't know of everyone's financial situation.
But if the movie sounds interesting enough to you, or your
lover's begging you to take her/him, by all means, go ahead and
see it on the big screen. It's fun and genuinely harmless (At 88
minutes run-time...how could you go wrong?)
Little Known Facts:
Two of this film's previous titles were CHINA DOLL and THE LEGEND
OF MULAN.
Ming-Na Wen also starred in ONE NIGHT STAND (5/10)
opposite Wesley Snipes.
Lea Salonga does the voice of Mulan singing in this movie, as Donny Osmond does
the voice of Shang belting out the tunes.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian