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Overall Rating
3.74

Awesome: 21.11%
Worth A Look51.11%
Average: 14.44%
Pretty Bad: 7.78%
Total Crap: 5.56%

7 reviews, 48 user ratings


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Mulan
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by Guide2Film

"Seen it all before."
3 stars

Another predictable Disney flick, although this one has some very good *Moments*

I didn't enjoy this Disney release nearly as much as critics across the country have. This film, about a Chinese girl who dresses as a boy to take the place of her father in a war has a problem with tone; the begining of the film seems like good old slapstick.Only problem is, I wasn't laughing. For the first act, I was bored silly. The songs in this film hardly work, and the animation is sometimes spectacular, and sometimes less than average.
It's very hard to take a film about a war seriously when it's all broad slapstick. "Mulan" works best after it's first 30 minutes when it finally settles down and gets serious. The animation is spectacular when Mulan joins a fight against what seems like hundreds of soldiers stampeding over a mountainside in a sequence that's the centerpiece of the film; it works and it's thrilling and it's unfortunate that the rest of the film couldn't be as good as this set; but thankfully the film stays serious towards the end.
It's two halfs of decent work. For most of the opening act, I was highly bored by the film's jokey attitude, and then baffled as it suddenly changes tone completely from slapstick to somber.
What I did like was Eddie Murphy's little dragon character. It really has no place in the film, but simply, it was one of the few things that kept me interested. It's unfortunate also that "Mulan" takes absolutely no risks. Every scene feels calculated for political correctedness and probably researched days and nights by a team of marketers.
Overall, I liked 20th Century Fox's "Anastasia" last fall far better. Even though the films aren't the same in plot, "Antastasia" was far faster, far more entertaining, and nearly perfect in pace.
If only "Mulan" was as good as it's middle section, it would be a fantastic film. As is, I just felt it was fair as animation goes.

Disney still doesn't really impress me lately.

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=26&reviewer=50
originally posted: 10/28/98 04:35:22
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User Comments

1/13/09 Anonymous. mulan is a great role model :] 4 stars
11/05/08 Dominic MULAN is just as good as Fox's recent animated feature film,ANASTASIA. 5 stars
9/01/08 Little Buddy Released after Anastasia,Hercules,All Dogs Go To Heaven 2,Hunchback,Pocahontas,Goofy Movie. 5 stars
8/31/08 Shaun Wallner My daughter loves this movie! 5 stars
7/27/08 The Dork Knight Snore. 1 stars
11/11/06 David Cohen Possibly the last really good Disney flick 4 stars
6/20/06 Herculade Tepid "girl-power" misfire. Weak villain, weak action, weak animation. 2 stars
12/23/05 cody a good disney movie about girl who saves her country, a lot of laughs, you the man sort of! 4 stars
10/24/05 tejaswi good 2 stars
8/11/05 ES Typical north american sentiment given to the wrong place/time, PC garbage 1 stars
11/01/04 Naka The last good Disney movie to date...but at least they went out with a bang. 5 stars
5/15/04 Sean Scanlan Fresh, however the humor is weak 3 stars
3/27/04 samuel disney just isn't what ot used to be... 2 stars
1/07/04 John rather dull story - emotionally uninvolving 2 stars
12/20/03 K.P. Great story and lessen in life 5 stars
10/14/03 Kendra Watson Basically women can do the same things that men can, sometime better! 5 stars
1/02/03 John Aster Habig Disney should've stop w/ Aladdin 1 stars
10/16/02 Charles Tatum Middle of the road, harmless Disney product 4 stars
5/15/02 Blake Lots and Lots of fun! 5 stars
4/27/02 Tabitha Cartwright The folly of political correctness this time offensively stereotypes Mongolians! 2 stars
10/22/01 Andrew Carden Just Doesn't Make Any Sense...Disney Isn't Good Anymore. 1 stars
9/14/01 Butterbean A forgettable Disney movie 3 stars
8/07/01 ted v. very good movie 4 stars
8/07/01 Joe Zappa Lots of fun! 5 stars
5/04/01 Gracy Lionheart I won tickets to Mulan. It was so-so...the worst part was Eddie Murphy. 3 stars
4/09/01 Gary Another not so good Disney movie. Mulan-Tarzan have been dissapointments! 3 stars
3/26/01 Ichabod Crane EDDIE MURPHY RUINED IT!!! WHY ALL THAT COMEDY?!!!! 2 stars
2/28/01 SHARODI SHABNAM well at the first it was preety funky and also funny i especilly like the songs well that's 5 stars
2/12/01 LOOBER A good animated movie, but Princess Mononoke is better 3 stars
11/29/00 The Evil Penguin good movie but the comic relief is UNNECESSARY in such dramatic film. 3 stars
4/04/00 Penny I love Mulan. She is so sweet and brings tears to my ears. 5 stars
9/06/99 BBReBozo I bet is pissed off China but good! Fun movie. 5 stars
8/12/99 Merry One of Disney's best - gorgeous animation and a working plot 5 stars
3/13/99 Ah Dooey Better than Pukahontas and Anastasia 4 stars
1/06/99 demon_shredder Mulan rocks 5 stars
11/03/98 Philip Jan It's a great film with a great story and an excellent score by Goldsmith. 5 stars
10/29/98 zenball licks the bottom of the zenball's sack 1 stars
10/07/98 Korny Island They didn't sing much!! Extra stars for that! 4 stars
9/28/98 Heather Soundtrack wasn't memorable, but the story and emotion were. 4 stars
9/25/98 Geek Master Great one! 5 stars
9/23/98 ShadowStar© Best Disney flick since "The Lion King" but the music could've been much better. 4 stars
9/20/98 MR HOLLYWOOD PURE MAGIC!!!, (though some songs are stupid) 4 stars
9/16/98 Trav Jerry Goldsmith will win an Oscar for this wonderful, sweeping filmscore! 5 stars
9/05/98 pooky the bald Loved this fucking movie. And I thought I was seeing it just for my girlfriend. 5 stars
9/05/98 Jon The only true great Disney animated flick. 5 stars
8/24/98 The Capital City Goofball Not real good. One or two good scenes, but I wasn't impressed. 2 stars
8/23/98 Mister Whoopee great scenery, lame songs, some funny bits. 3 stars
8/13/98 {{OZ}} Brilliant. Forget Eddie Murphy is in it. It's good fun. 5 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  05-Jun-1998 (G)
  DVD: 26-Oct-2004

UK
  N/A

Australia
  03-Sep-1998 (G)



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