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Mulan (lemm.ee)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by gon@lemm.ee to c/gondaily@lemm.ee

I watched Mulan, today.

I've been listening to "I'll Make a Man Out of You" for the past few days on repeat, so I thought I'd give the original 1998 animation a try - why not? Well, I was disappointed. Sorely so.

It's not a terrible movie by any means, but it's really not very good either. The plot is so simple; it's dreadfully unadorned! The animation was good, but I do suppose it looks 30 years old, because it is 30 years old. I suppose I should've tempered my expectations, in that regard. The horse looked cool. I also thought that Mushu was just annoying... There were good moments for the little dragon, but Eddie Murphy is fucking dreadful. YEAH, I SAID IT! MUSHU SUCKS!

I also thought that the end of the story had a very strong "and then everybody clapped" vibe to it - then the whole of China bowed. I mean, come on.

The other VAs were good, the music was very nice... I wish there was more music, frankly.

I really loved Shan Yu... He looked so cool! Though, he really didn't end up feeling that threatening, on an individual level. I was also a little confused with the whole like... A handful of Huns infiltrate the castle and somehow that has some implication for the future of China? When they're surrounded by Chinese people? I just feel like that's not really how conquering a nation works. That seemed very weird, and it took away from the whole intimidation shtick the dude had going on, I felt like.

I will not be watching Mulan II, but I did download The Iron Giant. I shall report back. Two protagonists in a row that don't wear pants, I believe.

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[-] iii@mander.xyz 5 points 5 days ago

Oh no. Oh no. You've just slam dunked on my favorite disney movie. To add insult to injury, your arguments are rather compelling.

[-] gon@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago

Well, I thought the songs were good...

[-] i_dont_want_to 2 points 5 days ago

Your decision to avoid Mulan II was the correct one. I adored the first Mulan movie. When I was a young girl, seeing female protagonists kick ass was always something I loved! (Her being Asian like me was a bonus.) I'm sure there is a healthy dose of nostalgia there.

But the sequel had an even blander premise. Mulan and her buddies had to accompany three women to another city to be chosen by a prince (?) to be wed. The sisters fall in love with Mulan's buddies. Forbidden love. Shenanigans happen. Lessons are learned. The sisters get to stay with the buddies. Who cares what happens to the prince? Mulan marries Shan Yu. Yawwwwwwwwn. Just saved you 1.25 hours.

[-] gon@lemm.ee 3 points 4 days ago

When I was a young girl, seeing female protagonists kick ass was always something I loved! (Her being Asian like me was a bonus.) I’m sure there is a healthy dose of nostalgia there.

I'll say, I also really love women kicking ass in my media. I remember loving Winx Club, Code Lyoko, W.I.T.C.H, and Kim Possible as a kid, especially Shego (I really loved Shego).

Mulan marries Shan Yu.

Mulan marries Li Shang! I also confuse their names sometimes... I had to look it up just to make sure. Shan Yu is the Hun main villain... It would've been really cool if Mulan married him, though, I wonder what would've had to happen for that turn of events to occur.

this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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