Mulan (1998)

Disney heads East for this fantasy adventure, this time based on an ancient myth from Imperial Chinese folklore. The Hun hordes are attacking the ancient kingdom and the Emperor must rally every troop he can to defend the nation. His riders travel far and wide calling upon all his men to join the army. They arrive at the home of "Mulan" and rather then send her ageing father, she decides to impersonate a boy and go join the fight. There is plenty of action in this much darker animation; the evil "Shan-Yu' has devilish, piercing eyes and the use of darker colours and hues - alongside heavy drum-based themes from Jerry Goldsmith goes some way to project a decent sense of menace on the latter half of the film. "Mulan" herself, though spending half of the film pretending, turns out to be a feisty heroine easily the match of her male counterparts. So, why only 3/5 - well: Eddie Murphy drove me mad. "Mushu" was as irritating as he was noisy; a hammer to crack a nut - so overblown as to largely ruin the film for me.

'Mulan' is good Disney. There's a lot to enjoy about this film, it's not without a few less entertaining parts but overall it's one that many will like. The plot is pretty fascinating, even if it isn't as dark or in-depth as it could be. Ming-Na Wen gives a more than acceptable performance in the lead role. Eddie Murphy, though, is definitely the most memorable voice from this. I don't love his character, who is a bit too cartoon-y and looks out of place, but Murphy is simply funny, in what certainly feels like a precursor to his role in the 'Shrek' franchise. None of the other cast standout, yet still give what's required. Animation-wise it's nice, while a few of the songs are catchy. I don't, as already alluded to with Murphy's Mushu, overly rate the character design. Aside from the aforementioned, I also don't like how Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) looks - he, at least to me, just looks angry all the time rather than terrifying or threatening. I do class this as a film worth watching for sure, the pacing helps keep things enjoyable.