MULAN (Disney) Voices: Ming-Na Wen, B. D. Wong, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, Soon-Tek Oh, James Hong, Pat Morita, Harvey Fierstein. Screenplay: Rita Hsiao, Christopher Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer & Eugenia Bostwick-Singer. Producer: Pam Coats. Directors: Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft. MPAA Rating: G (mild cartoon violence) Running Time: 90 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Perhaps, for the first time in a decade, the pressure is off. Ever since THE LITTLE MERMAID re-vitalized Disney's animation efforts in 1989, the studio's annual animated feature has been one of the year's most scrutinized releases. After steadily increasing grosses from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ALADDIN, the stakes were raised even higher when THE LION KING became a $300 million blockbuster. Then came POCAHONTAS, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and HERCULES, which made "only" $350 million between them, leading wags to wonder whether the Mouse had lost its touch. They'd gotten too "politically correct," came the analysis, or too dark. They'd strayed from the successful formulas which had filled the seats with youngsters and sent tie-in products scurrying off the shelves.
Now that no one expects $300 million every time out of the gate, maybe Disney will get the credit it is due for pushing the limits of animated film-making. MULAN defies convention yet again, bypassing the well-trodden ground of Western literature and mythology to tell a 2,000-year-old tale from Chinese legend. The title character (Ming-Na Wen) is a less-than-demure young girl who seems destined for an uncertain place in Imperial Chinese society when she fails the tests of the local matchmaker (Miriam Margolyes). Then the empire is threatened by an invading Hun army led by Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer), leading the emperor (Pat Morita) to call on every family to provide one male for military service. With her aging, lame father Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) as the only male family member, Mulan decides to honor her family in a different way by disguising herself as a man and joining the army. Accompanied by a disgraced, redemption-hungry dragon guardian named Mushu (Eddie Murphy), Mulan sets out to find her destiny in battle, and perhaps fall for her commanding officer Li Shang (B. D. Wong) along the way.
The "YENTL goes to China" plot line is basic Disney stuff on a certain level -- yearning young protagonist, societal restrictions, complicated romance, lessons in personal growth and tolerance of individuality all around. It's a bit surprising then to find the set-up as drawn-out as it is in MULAN. Though there's a bit of comic relief in the bumbling encounter with the matchmaker, the first half hour is largely devoted to character development and motivation -- good things on general principle, of course, but over-indulged here to contribute to an extremely slow start. It doesn't help that the early songs by David Zippel and Matthew Wilder -- yes, the same Matthew Wilder of "Break My Stride" fame -- are the kind of uninspired post-Howard Ashman ditties which make you wish someone could get over the Broadway musical paradigm for animated features. That opening 25-minute stretch is plenty earnest, but it's hardly confidence-inspiring.
When MULAN finally does hit its own stride, beginning with the visually striking sequence in which Mulan leaves home, it's a solid and energetic piece of work. The script incorporates comic relief into its redemption story much better than POCAHONTAS or HUNCHBACK wedged in its token gags, providing a fine showcase for Eddie Murphy's fast-talking dragon and Harvey Fierstein's entertainingly incongruous voicing of a he-man soldier. The musical numbers also pick up steam in the second half of the film, perhaps not providing break-out hummable hits but at least setting a firm musical tone. Mostly, however, the film becomes a dazzling adventure, highlighted by a spectacular battle sequence between Huns and Chinese soldiers in a snowy mountain pass. By the time the sharply-paced climactic confrontation rolls around, with its balanced doses of humor and suspense, you may have forgotten MULAN's less-than-stellar start.
I suppose what gives MULAN an added kick are the touches which stray from familiar Disney patterns. Notably, the villainous Shan-Yu remains in the background for most of the film as a mysterious genuine threat -- no comic sidekicks, no songs, no glib one-liners. That leaves more time to develop Mulan's resourcefulness, creating a smart and savvy heroine who happens to be an Asian woman, a rarity not just in animated films but in films of any kind. This may not be the kind of cuddly, inviting film of which stuffed animal sales and video buying binges are made; indeed, it may be over the head of kids much younger than 7 or 8. Fact is, it doesn't exactly warrant that ubiquitous Disney label of "masterpiece." Sometimes you're going to take a few false steps when you make a choice not merely to follow the old steps.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 MULAN ruses: 7.
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