Disney's Mulan review

     Disney's Mulan is an excellent story with a lot of heart and excitement featuring great characters, though I understand one tiny dragon named Mushu is quite controversial.  

    The visuals are top-notch and the soundtrack and songs are among the best with the songs 'Reflection' and 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' particularly memorable. 

    Mulan is one of my favorite female Disney protagonists, maybe even contender for top place of that category. She is not a passive damsel,  she is strong and smart and brave while still being cute, feminine,  and beautiful. Love her!

   The other characters are good too, though Shan Yu is perhaps one of the less memorable villains he is a lot better than trash tier bad guy material like the awful Governor Ratcliffe. He is terrifying and looks very imposing, and he is quite vicious and heartless. He just doesn't have the depth of a Frollo or the wit of a Scar.

   Besides Shan Yu, Mushu is very controversial.  Personally I thought he was funny, not top-notch like similar comedic side characters in Lion King and Alladin. More on the level of the gargoyles in Hunchback.  Not the best but still funny and serve the purpose of adding levity to a film with a fairly dark plot for a children's movie. Something I think is necessary. However,  I understand people thinking the wise-cracking dragon Mushu is a bit too much, especially after a tonal shift about half-way through the film after a tragic event. I can see people seeing his continued jokes seem inappropriate or jarring.

     This film, while not quite as dark as Hunchback,  is still pretty dark for a kids film as families should note that it shows violence,  though no blood is shown. Also, a tragic event in which it is strongly implied many people including children were killed might be too much for kids. There is also some slight sexual content. Mulan, who has been disguised as a boy, ends up in an awkward situation where she in a lake naked with male characters. It is portrayed as innocent,  the guys think she is a male, and she extricate herself out of the potentially embarrassing situation. Obviously no nudity is actually shown. However Mushu makes a brief comment that is subtle mild innuendo referring to Mulan's breasts. Because of all this content,  I personally think the g rating is wrong and the film should probably have been pg. However I think its milder than Hunchback and might be fine for most children other than very young, of course, according to parental discretion. 

Overall,  I love this film.  I have to give it a 10 out of 10. Even if you really don't like Mushu, so much of the film beside him is so entertaining and it showcases one of the best female Disney characters in my opinion.

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