Thursday, August 20, 2020

A Look Back at Mulan (1998)




Okay so brief thing here. I was going to post this later on in the month that way it's closer to the release of the 2020 movie but I have other plans, so you're getting this review now. Alright with that out of the way let's get started.





Mulan is a 1998 animated musical adventure film based on the Chinese legend Hua Mulan. The movie is Disney's 36th animated feature as well as the ninth movie produced during the Disney Renaissance era. The movie was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. Mulan is written by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer and directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft.





The story is the Huns have breached The Great Wall and have been laying waste to anything and anybody that gets in their way. Because of this the Chinese emperor have issued mobilization with the catch being one man from each family has to join the army. At first Mulan's father was going but because of his poor health Mulan takes his place and prepares to put a stop to the Huns.







  • Negatives



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.








  • Mix



The only thing I'm mixed on is the ending song True to Your Heart by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder. It's by no means a bad song it just for whatever reason I just never got into it being the end credit song.








  • Positives



Now let's get into the great things about the film and one of those being the music. All I gotta say is it's great, both in terms of the score and the musical numbers. I to this day still love hearing "I'll Make a Man Out of You".




Another thing that made Mulan such a great Disney movie was the humor. This movie had quite a bit of funny moments, primarily because Mushu is a great comedic relief character. And of course Mulan's grandmother also got a few great moments, her comment about the ancestors being lucky will always put a smile on my face.




What I also loved about it was other than the comedy it get some very dark moments. That scene after Mulan and the other soldiers are done singing and we see a horrifying set of a small village along with other horrible things is definitely a shocking part.




Speaking of dark I'm giving credit for the writers with The Huns. They're really good villains. And what made them so good was they didn't care who you are, if you're in their way they will kill you. So nicely done on the bad guys there Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer.




What I also want to give the movie credit for is it's animation. This was definitely top notch hand drawn animation and I loved every bit of it. I think my favorite part was the snow battle, when you get that shot of The Huns on the top of the hill and see just how many of them there are. That was a great shot.








Mulan is one of the great movies to come out from Disney's Renaissance Era. It has great music, good humor, even greater dark moments, well written bad guys, and beautiful animation. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the end credit song that's not gonna bring down the quality of the film by any means.








My final rating is Great








Okay, that's all for me. Come back on Saturday, Aug 22nd for my review of Disney+'s The One and Only Ivan. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

No comments:

Post a Comment