Aesthetically pleasing but derivative adventure

Rating: 6/10 (17 April 2019)

You may remember how the trailer to this gave you very little idea of what the plot was about.
Well she accidently has her mother turned into a bear. That's what happens. I was watching this think "wait...haven't they done this idea before? Emporer's new grove did a similar thing but with a Llama, The Princess and the Frog did this but with frogs and Brother did this but with...the exact same animal". I know Pixar IS NOT Disney. At least not in essence.
I'm not saying that each of these 4 movies don't have their own nuances, styles and ideas to explore, only it seems a bit of a tired idea by this point.
The first act has an ostentatiously feminist verve, like it's desperate to be this decade's Mulan. But we don't need another Mulan because we have Mulan. Is it saying something else pertinent about feminism? Not really. We have a heroine, the kind that idents love to call "plucky" or Feisty", who filches apples, who pouts in an unladylike way and then uses her bow and arrow like a boss.
The first act seems pretty engaging as she dares to compete with her own suitors "for her own hand".
But this movie that was so happy to wave the flag of girl power thought it was good idea to turn the whole thing into one of the most effeminate road trip movies you can imagine. I don't care that one is a bear. Is it really feminist to make this just some female analogue to a Goofy Movie? Or to adnadone the badassdom to just have a story of female bonding? (I suppose they're the same thing as much as I love A goofy Movie).
I'm not saying there aren't stuff to like: these kinds of movies always have a lot of visual wit and talent that draw you into the world they've created with its details, textures, rich characterisation, inoffensive but wonderful humor and general sense of wonder. The radiant aesthetic of the Celtic autumn, its sound track full of local color and pop ballads (that you will hate to love but love all the same) plus the scope of its set pieces make sure that seeing this is not a waste. It's just that it's main plot got a bit misguided.
What made Mulan so wonderful is that Mulan wasn't sure which world she belonged to more and was on just as much of a learning curve as the men in becoming a soldier. Of course I need to stop thinking this is trying to be Mulan because it's clearly so different but, as anyone who has a seen a Miyakzaki movie will tell you, taping on some progressive colors does not mean you have instantly charmed every progressive in the room.
One of the lesser efforts of its studio but it's still not half bad.