Thanks for the memories!

Brilliant and touching

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Blistering performances.

Most of the time during this movie I face-palmed. The songs are stupid, the returning characters are either stupid or completely mean- spirited. I almost shouted at the screen when I saw what an asshole Mushu turned into! That one hit really hard! Along with a message that is just lame. Especially under these circumstances they are presented this is just garbage. In the original this "follow your heart" was equally balanced with a logical side which said "my father is not able to make it through this" and "I will take his place and save China from the Huns". THEY STUCK TO SAVING CHINA, GODDAMMIT! Here this "follow your heart" is completely illogical and almost unforgivable. This arranged marriage is to save china from war! But that is not important to Mulan, oooh, it is not right, oooh, my duty is to my heart, BLAH!

Mulan was one of Disney's greatest films ever made with beautiful animation, excellent voice acting, intense action, and an entertaining story. So, when some of the Disney sequels came out at the time (Return of Jafar, Cinderella II, and Hunchback of Notre Dame II), I waited so desperately to see a sequel that would capture the magic of the original.Sadly, my expectations were quite low when after the first 10-15 minutes of this film since it failed to be the same positive levels that made the original such a masterpiece and the characteristic was one of the few main problems of this sequel. I'll show you by contrasting the characteristic of the original and this sequel.In the original, Mulan was a conflicted woman who was doing what is right for his family by protecting his father from getting himself killed. In this sequel, Mulan's personality is to now be a staunch feminist as she and Shang try to love each other. In the original, Mushu was a well-intentioned but slightly misguided sidekick who gave me some laughs with his comedic moments throughout the film. In this sequel, he's a selfish villain who attempts to break up the relationship between Mulan and Shang. In the original, Mulan's army buddies were hilarious and were quite enjoyable characters. In this sequel, they are now being one-dimensional characters repeating the same characteristic over and over again.With the characteristic out of the way, there are a few good things about this movie. The voice acting is very terrific and did their best with the material they've been given and the animation, while below the original's standards, is obviously quite good and is the best animation I've seen in a Disney direct-to-video sequel this far.Sadly, those two positive aspects got suffered by it's predictable story (with some overused clichés from other new direct-to-video sequels) and it's uninspiring message about "Following your heart" which makes it a little less entertaining for children and their adults.Although, not a horrible sequel (unlike Cinderella 2, which was by far the worst direct-to-video sequel I have ever seen), Mulan II lacks the heart of the original and has a uninspiring message that just doesn't measure up. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it, but in terms of direct-to-video sequels, the adults might have a hard time remembering this.Rating: 5.6/10

Mulan is without a doubt my favorite Walt Disney movie, and I cherish it as one of my favorite movies ever in general. With that said, it's pretty clear I had high hopes set for Mulan II, and even though I was certainly not expecting it to precede Mulan at all, I was hoping for it to have the same charm and enchantment as it did. Mulan II is an impressive achievement that definitely does justice to the first, and did justice to my expectations.What is really great about this film is it's overall sense and essence of fun that the first kind of kept mellow and shied away from. Don't get me wrong, I thought Mulan was indeed perfect, but you can compare the two films and obviously see that Mulan II is meant to have more jubilance, and is meant to be more fun and joyful than the first. The film also has excellent songs that I can't help but get stuck in my head, like the "(I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls" bit that the thought of it is making me sing now, and the "Lesson Number One" sequence that I walk around chanting at random times now and then, haha. They are amazingly catchy and well done just like the songs in the first were.The best thing about this movie though is it's beauty. I think there were so many captivating scenes that were excellently displayed, though the animation was a bit choppy, and the message is just as pure as in the first one, though the first undeniably executes it better. The colors were effervescent, and managed to overthrow a lot of the second-rate animation faults, and one scene that sticks out in my mind is when Shang proposes, because the tree where Mulan and her dad had the most touching scene of the first Mulan film is colored and exhibited gorgeously.Some things that keep this from being better than it could be is the animation, like I've said, because even though there are beautiful scenes, the animation is quite childlike. Another thing is Shang's lack of personality about halfway through and how Mushu became so incredibly selfish that his character seemed out of place. They were basically like puppets to the creators instead of becoming actual characters themselves, unlike in the first where they had distinct traits and were likable for their definitive individuality, although Mushu does pull through at the end. The voiceovers didn't bother me as much as I thought they would, even though I wish some of the original people would've came back.In any matter, Mulan II is insane fun, incredibly entertaining, undeniably charming and beautifully crafted. The characters and animation are mediocre at times, but it never fails at keeping up with the spark that the first had. It's far, far better than the Aladdin sequels, and as a film itself it's well done and just overall an astonishing delight that I am glad I gave a chance. Don't let the "direct-to-video" fool you, because this should have been released in theatres to give more people a chance to see what an admirable sequel it is; job well done.

The story is pointless and takes a cheap way out of every remotely deep question. The main problem of the Hun invasion is also never solved. The main message of being selfish with disregard to the well being of others is also troubling.The songs are not forgettable- they are flat out bad. The animation pales in comparison to the original.This is another example of Disney ruining a good film with an unnecessary ugly sequel.A pointless voice cameo by Michelle Kwan on a nonsensically skating ginger saleswoman puts the hilariously bad cherry on top of this pile of garbage. Don't let your children or anyone see this for risk of tainting the memory of the original (and very good) film.