My Movie Review on Mulan II

Greetings, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for the 2nd installment of my "February Festivity", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Mulan II".

Here's the rundown of this tale:

One month after the events of the first film, Fa Mulan and Li Shang decide to get married. However, after Mulan's secret guardian and best friend, Mushu, hears about the two's intentions to be hitched, he discovers that his job is on the line and that he'll have to go back to gong duty once Mulan and Shang marry.

In the midst of this, the Emperor of China assigns Mulan and Shang to escort his three daughters (Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su) across China to the kingdom of Qui Gong, where they'll be betrothed to the three princes so that China and Qui Gong can unite as one. And who better to help Mulan and Shang on their quest...than Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po?

I'd like to be honest, I was reluctant to ever see this movie and make a review of it at first, mainly because of the negative reputation it received in contrast to its predecessor. But, I later decided that I wanted to have my own opinion on whether this movie is good or bad. I had my own DVD copy of the film that came with its predecessor as a Double Feature anyway, so finding a way to watch it was no trouble at all.

So, what do I think of this movie?

Yay, I didn't think this movie was great. But, I also found that it wasn't as terrible as its reputation made it out to be. At the most, it turned out to merely be a 50/50 venture among other things.

For instance, the animation was sort of a mix between good and bad.

The character animation was what I found to be the strongest of the elements, as it seemed like the animators were putting a lot of care into working with them. The animation for the backgrounds and settings, though...that was what I wasn't impressed with. They appeared to be cheaply done, like the animators weren't dedicating enough time on them so that they'd be gorgeous to look at. The computer-animation used for the carriage as it rode didn't blend well with the hand-drawn elements, if I may add.

The direction by Darrell Rooney and Lyne Southerland, and the screenplay by Michael Lucker, Chris Parker, and Roger S.H. Schulman, was also something I felt divided over.

When it came to making the film a romantic-comedy, I thought the film team greatly succeeded on that front. The comedy aspect was neatly done, with every joke having a neat flavor to it all. The team gave the film a great sense of emotion and heart, which came in the form of the depicted romances and the friendship between Mulan and Mushu. Plus, the film had great morals about love and choice.

However, in the midst of helping the lead characters develop through the film's themes and morals, the filmmakers generated plot holes that caused things to get questionable. Among them was the fact that the kingdom of Qui Gong would go to war with China if the princesses didn't marry the princes, but because of that never falling through in the end thanks to Mushu interfering by posing as the Golden Dragon...I can't tell whether he either created harmony or ultimately doomed China and Qui Gong into going to war in the long run. I can't help but wish that they had gone in more detail as to whether Mulan and Shang had known each other long enough to want to get married in the first place and what helped them be closer in bond. Here and there, they also made annoying use of cartoony sound effects that were kinda out of place.

As for the overall soundtrack...I'm not gonna lie, Joel McNeely definitely killed it with composing for the movie. Being a protege of the late Jerry Goldsmith clearly paid off for him, because he was able to directly capture the spirit that the former gave the first film while making everything his own. But, the quality of the three songs, "Lesson Number One", the redux of "A Girl Worth Fighting For", and "I Wanna Be Like Other Girls" wasn't what I found to be the most memorable or fun. It was mainly due to the lyrics not sounding like they were rolling with one another or matching the beat of the melodies.

Finally, the voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were elements I've had divided opinions over.

I wasn't exactly pleased with the overall role Mushu had in this movie or of Eddie Murphy's replacing with Mark Moseley, an impressionist who likewise played the character in Murphy's place for video games and cameo appearances in other media.

On one hand, I can tell that Moseley was certainly trying his best, especially with trying to match Murphy's comedic persona and style, as well as trying to at least sound like Eddie Murphy. But, the difference in casting was nevertheless obvious in a great many ways, and there was an uncanny valley effect sort of vibe to Moseley's portrayal that made me deeply long for hearing the voice of the real Eddie Murphy. What Moseley's performance also seemed to be lacking compared to Murphy's portrayal in the first movie is a strong and powerful delivery in dialogue, as well as a sense of personality. Overall, Moseley's filling in for Murphy may work well for smaller doses, but for a feature length film...not so much.

Likewise, with the exception of a few parts, Mushu wasn't the most likable character in the movie. In contrast to the first film, he was more of an arrogant and self-centered jerk throughout much of this direct-to-video sequel, even when he wasn't trying to break up Mulan and Shang in order to keep his job. I have been happy that he was at least able to develop throughout the film, learn from his errors, and try to make up for the wrong things he did, but the direction the filmmakers were taking the character still rubbed me the wrong way.

I wasn't enthused by the direction the filmmakers went with Mulan's ancestors either, because they did things that I'm sure would make the living members of the Fa family vomit.

Despite this, I enjoyed the fact that the film team managed to preserve much of the original cast members, and there were some pretty fun new performers on board too. The cast sounded like they were giving their all, that's for sure. In my opinion, the person who gave the best portrayal was Ming-Na Wen and her performances as Mulan. She played her character with outstanding commitment, passion, and emotion, especially to where she sounded like she literally became Mulan instead of just providing the voice.

The characters of Mulan, Shang, Yao, Chein-Po, and Ling in particular were as enjoyable as they were before, and the princesses were wonderful new additions to the franchise. The romantic developments between Yao and Mei, Ling and Ting-Ting, and Chien-Po and Su were heartwarming to watch, and it was fun seeing where things often went with Mulan and Shang.

In conclusion, "Mulan II" isn't as terrible as I thought it would be, but it's not something I'd watch over and over again either. As another direct-to-video sequel made by the now defunct DisneyToon Studios, it was decent at the most.

So, I rate "Mulan II" three out of five stars.