Mulan II
Year: 2004
Directed by: Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook
Starring: Ming Na-Wen, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Lauren Tom & BD Wong
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 20/06/22
Directed by: Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook
Starring: Ming Na-Wen, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Lauren Tom & BD Wong
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 20/06/22
Mulan is one of Disney’s all time greatest Animated Classics. The timeless story of a woman rising up against ancient patriarchal power structures to fight for her country and family in a time of war is not only inspiring, but it’s incredibly entertaining with some fantastic characters, catchy musical numbers, and beautiful animation. Which is why it pains me to say that Mulan II is almost none of those things and yet another example of DisneyToon’s inconsistent creative abilities.
A month has passed since Fa Mulan (Min-Na Wen) saved China and is eagerly anticipating a marriage proposal from General Li Shang (BD Wong), much to Mushu’s (Mark Moseley) dismay as it will see his position as her guardian terminated and once again relegated to being the family ancestors errand boy.
The Emperor (Pat Morita) understands the necessity to strengthen China against the Mongol threat and so has formed an agreement with the kingdom of Qui Gong. The Emperor’s three daughters Mei (Lucy Liu), Ting-Ting (Sandra Oh), and Su (Lauren Tom) are to marry Qui Gong’s princes. Mulan and Shang are tasked with escorting them, however the journey is made considerably more difficult when the princesses begin to fall in love with their guards, Ling (Gedde Watanbe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo).
A month has passed since Fa Mulan (Min-Na Wen) saved China and is eagerly anticipating a marriage proposal from General Li Shang (BD Wong), much to Mushu’s (Mark Moseley) dismay as it will see his position as her guardian terminated and once again relegated to being the family ancestors errand boy.
The Emperor (Pat Morita) understands the necessity to strengthen China against the Mongol threat and so has formed an agreement with the kingdom of Qui Gong. The Emperor’s three daughters Mei (Lucy Liu), Ting-Ting (Sandra Oh), and Su (Lauren Tom) are to marry Qui Gong’s princes. Mulan and Shang are tasked with escorting them, however the journey is made considerably more difficult when the princesses begin to fall in love with their guards, Ling (Gedde Watanbe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo).
Mulan II haphazardly attempts to toe the line between telling a traditional Disney Princess fairy-tale of love at first sight with the more unconventional and unromantic tale of Mulan. In Mulan II our leading lady barely resembles the character we know from the first film, with almost all of her attention directed to wanting to make Shang a happy husband. Shang also spends most of the film ensuring that Mulan never gets to have those empowering moments she had in the original film, because as far as he is concerned women don’t do that and the only reason she got away with it in the first film is because he thought she was a man.
The three princesses falling for Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po is a fun storyline to explore and has some moments of real heart-warming sentimentality to it, but the problem is that the three princess have almost no personality. One likes food, one likes strong men, and one likes funny guys so they all just swoon over Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po with very little effort and whilst I’m all for romance, this is the sickly lovey dovey kind of stuff that just makes you want to gag.
The ending also doesn’t make much sense to me either. At one point in the film it’s implied that Shang dies and so Mulan tells the princesses not to marry the princes and instead Mulan offers herself to be married instead. Qui Gong seem to think this is a better offer anyway, but are then stopped by a still very much alive Shang and Mushu before just shrugging their shoulders and agreeing to ally with China despite no marriages being made. It makes the whole thing feel like it was for nothing in the end because clearly Qui Gong would have been fine with allying with China without the need for a marriage all along if they just decided to do it at the end anyway.
Whilst not a bad looking film, Mulan II lacks the same kind of visual pop that the original Mulan film had. DisneyToon Studios definitely tried to replicate the look of Mulan but there’s something weirdly off about character designs, and environments are nowhere near as detailed or visually impressive as anything showcased in the original film. Add to that the many disappointing and unnecessary musical numbers and it’s very much a slog to get through Mulan II.
Mulan II is probably fine for young children, but anyone who enjoys Mulan for what it represents and the way it made you feel will be sorely disappointed by what Mulan II has to offer. There are certainly worse Disney Animated Sequels out there, but Mulan II just feels so soulless that when you consider you’d be watching this off the back of one of Disney’s most highly revered works it really puts into perspective how bland the whole thing is. It’s something I’ll likely forget about entirely by the end of the week.
The three princesses falling for Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po is a fun storyline to explore and has some moments of real heart-warming sentimentality to it, but the problem is that the three princess have almost no personality. One likes food, one likes strong men, and one likes funny guys so they all just swoon over Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po with very little effort and whilst I’m all for romance, this is the sickly lovey dovey kind of stuff that just makes you want to gag.
The ending also doesn’t make much sense to me either. At one point in the film it’s implied that Shang dies and so Mulan tells the princesses not to marry the princes and instead Mulan offers herself to be married instead. Qui Gong seem to think this is a better offer anyway, but are then stopped by a still very much alive Shang and Mushu before just shrugging their shoulders and agreeing to ally with China despite no marriages being made. It makes the whole thing feel like it was for nothing in the end because clearly Qui Gong would have been fine with allying with China without the need for a marriage all along if they just decided to do it at the end anyway.
Whilst not a bad looking film, Mulan II lacks the same kind of visual pop that the original Mulan film had. DisneyToon Studios definitely tried to replicate the look of Mulan but there’s something weirdly off about character designs, and environments are nowhere near as detailed or visually impressive as anything showcased in the original film. Add to that the many disappointing and unnecessary musical numbers and it’s very much a slog to get through Mulan II.
Mulan II is probably fine for young children, but anyone who enjoys Mulan for what it represents and the way it made you feel will be sorely disappointed by what Mulan II has to offer. There are certainly worse Disney Animated Sequels out there, but Mulan II just feels so soulless that when you consider you’d be watching this off the back of one of Disney’s most highly revered works it really puts into perspective how bland the whole thing is. It’s something I’ll likely forget about entirely by the end of the week.