Guilty Pleasure

Rating: Null/10 (25 October 2004)

This Disney animated has so many terrible flaws that I'm forced to put it in my "guilty pleasures" category. I love this movie, but I wince at the laughable (or insulting) Disney view of ancient Chinese culture and the Disney-typical "cute sidekicks." The animation is uneven: the waving flags are marvelous and must be computer-generated, but the heads of the characters sometimes visibly change shape as they turn left or right. The charging Hun army looks too reminiscent of other CGI scenes and looks cartoony. The character of Mushu (voice by Eddie Murphy) is hilarious but also hilariously miscast. The designs of some characters (The Emperor and Shan-Yu) are grotesque, while other designs (e.g., settings, Mulan's horse) are marvelous. The face of Mulan herself is a crude blank with vividly expressive eyebrows and mouth. The voices of Mulan and her family are very good, the songs are good and the music is magnificent (Jerry Goldsmith). The action scenes are generally exciting while also being laughably illogical. Fortunately, if you can vigorously suspend your disbelief, Mulan is both very funny and somewhat touching.
Alan Nicoll