Not one of Disney's best

Rating: 5/10 (3 February 2012)

I was a huge fan of the "Disney Renaissance" films in the 90's, of which "Mulan" is one of them. However, I don't think it holds up very well among the others. Which is a shame, because the story and setting are unique, and the heroine is strong and admirable. She deserved a better movie, in my opinion.
First of all, the songs and score are just not that memorable (with the exception of "Reflection", and even that is pretty conventional). The animation was not as impressive. Compare the animation to that of "The Lion King". Every shot in that film was an "awe" moment. In comparison, Mulan looked like it was made for home video. The villain, while scary, was more of a caricature than a fully developed character. Disney always did a great job with villains, so this was a missed opportunity. Also, I really missed a romance. Now, some may love that Mulan never got together with Shang (at least in the first film), but romance is what gives Disney films their spice! Overall, the story just didn't excite me. I saw it once in college when it first came out, and didn't see it again until recently. That just shows how much I really missed watching it (lol). It's admirable that Disney would do a film about a Chinese girl who dresses as a man to fight in a war, but they could have done a better job of it.