TheSeaLion "Mulan 2" marks the fourth Disney sequel to an animated movie I have seen, the other three being "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", "Tarzan & Jane", and "Kronk's New Groove". While "Mulan 2" is easily better than both "Kronk's New Groove" and Tarzan & Jane", it is still a terrible movie that can't even rise to the ranks of the mediocre "Simba's Pride". "Mulan 2" is a sequel where they had no idea what to do, so they packed in so much that the movie overflows with too many characters, multiple subplots that aren't very interesting, and bad songs.One month after the events of "Mulan", Shang (BD Wong) proposes to Mulan (Ming-Na Wen). As their proposal in announced, both Shang and Mulan are summoned by the Emperor (Pat Morita) for an important mission: escort his daughters (Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Lauren Tom) to arranged marriages in a neighboring kingdom to gain an alliance with them. Along for the mission is Mushu (Mark Moseley), Cricket, and the three soldiers from the first movie (Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Waranabe, Jerry Tondo). The most surprising thing is there are no supporting characters in this movie. There are side characters, such as the Emperor, but all of the characters we are focused on have their own subplots that occur throughout the movie which we focus on. Mulan and Shang's relationship, the soldiers and the princesses falling in love with each other, and Mushu attempting to break up Mulan and Shang so he doesn't lose his job as Mulan's guardian because when she marries Shang, his guardian becomes hers as well. All of these subplots are given a lot of focus throughout the movie, making each of the nine characters stand out as main characters with no supporting case. I guess, technically, Cricket could be considered a side character, but he isn't utilized much other than occasionally trying to stop Mushu from breaking up Shang and Mulan.The majority of the characters in this movie only take part in the plot because they need to. Based on the plot, the Emperor, princesses, and several soldiers were needed to make the story work. Shang was okay in the story because as the Emperor's general, he is one of the few who would be trusted to look after the Emperor's daughters. The three soldiers from the first movie did not have to be there. They could have had new characters take their place, but they were reused because people recognized them. Strangely, the most forced in character to the entire movie was Mulan. She was not a soldier, yet she was still selected to go on the mission, for some reason. With Mulan being forced in, Mushu and Cricket were forced in. This movie turned Mushu into one of the worst Disney characters ever. I doubt I'll be able to enjoy his shenanigans in the first film as much now because of how he was portrayed in this movie. In the first film, Mushu was selfish, using Mulan risking her life as a means to try and get back his old job as family guardian. By the end of the movie, he had moved past that and had formed an actual relationship with her and stopped using her. In this movie, he tries to break Mulan and Shang apart to keep his job. That is something he would have done in the first movie before his character change, that is not something he would have done now.The musical numbers in this film are atrocious. Some parts of the songs do not rhyme, like with the song "I Want to be Like Other Girls", other songs are completely pointless and not good at all like "Lesson Number One", and they reuse "A Girl Worth Fighting For", only changing the lyrics in between, "A Girl worth fighting for," which usually don't rhyme anyway.There is no investment in any of the subplots throughout the entire movie. Mushu is so terrible and diabolical in this movie that you want him to lose his post and do not sympathize with him at all when he feels bad about breaking Mulan and Shang up. The daughters fall in love with the soldiers and vice verse almost immediately, with the exception of Ting Ting (Lucy Liu) who holds off on her feeling because of her duty to marry the prince in another kingdom. All of the characters falling in love happens spontaneously that it does not feel real, even by Disney standards, and it happens with characters that should be supporting characters so they don't really have much existing personality. The Mulan and Shang subplot, you know they'll end up back together so why do you care? It's one of those things they do in sequels where they break up a likable pair just so they can get back together again.Like "Tarzan & Jane" and "Kronk's New Groove", "Mulan 2" is a terrible movie, one of the worst I've ever seen. But unlike them, there was at least a consistent story and a side character was not given their own movie. It is still a terrible movie with too many main characters, bad songs, and nothing to be invested in, but it is not the worst Disney sequel ever made.

george_bidwell Mulan was personally one of my all time favourite Disney movies and movies in general and so when the moment i saw this movie around I was puzzled as to why I have not heard of it, then I realized ... It was direct to DVD. I gave this movie a chance though despite my opinion on some of the other Disney straight to video sequels and boy am I glad I did as this movie is a ball to watch. The movie's plot is simple but perfectly functioning it is the story about Shang and Mulan being engaged to marry but before the wedding having to transport three princesses to another country for an arranged marriage that will end the war, all the time Mushu trying to destroy Mulan's wedding and the three princesses falling in love with three warriors from the first film. The movies scenery and animation are ace almost living up to the ridiculously high bar of the first. Now while the characters are flat and generic, with only the characters from the first standing out, they are funny and provide some cool character arcs. The direction lends this picture an amazing sense of pace despite the movie curiously lacking laid out acts. It makes for some funny jokes cute animation and fast paced even with a generic and schmaltzy plot. So overall a fun movie worth checking out in hd!

Gavin Cresswell (gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297) 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

Dragoneyed363 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.