Mulan is a truly classic and timeless Disney movie and one of the last “hits” before Disney would enter into a bit of a slump for a couple of years. While these days people just talk about the live-action Mulan, which is awesome. I think that I will always have a soft spot for this 1998 classic.
How to Download Mulan (1998)
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also the 2020 live-action version of the story, which is also called Mulan.
The Movie Review
While Mulan is a great movie it does have one thing going against it and that is Eddie Murphy as Mushu. That is not a knock on Eddie Murphy, I love him and Mushu, but he really overshadows pretty much everything about this movie! 99 people out of 100 when they think of the movie Mulan do not think of the titular character, they think of Mushu!
The plot of the movie is quite deep and more “adult” than what you would usually get in a Disney movie. The Huns are invading and to fight them off the army is going to each village and demanding that each family send a male to fight the war. Mulan is an only child and as a result, her old and frail father will have to go and fight in the war.
Mulan knows that her father will never survive so, Mulan decides to dress up like a man so that she can fight instead of her father! This is pretty awesome stuff and I think that the animators did a fantastic job here and you can see why the people were fooled!
Now, Mulan’s family is not happy with this so they call in a little red dragon called Mushu. Mushi is a bit of a screw-up, but he can redeem himself if he can convince Mulan to quit her quest and return home. Mushu soon realizes that Mulan is not the kind of person that can be talked out of something when she has her mind set!
This results in Mushu abandoning his quest and deciding to help Mulan instead. Mulan and Mushu have fantastic chemistry and I feel that the movie walks a very fine line between being funny and serious, something that more than a few other Disney movies have struggled with over the years.
Seeing Mulan have to keep up this act of being a man and avoid suspicion while she is in the army training academy is great stuff and some of the best work Disney did during this time. There are more than a few times when you think for sure she is caught but manages to get out of it.
Mulan also has a very underrated villain. While the threat of the Huns is what the movie is about, they are led by the evil Shan Yu who is a great bad guy and one that feels very dangerous from the first moment we meet him. You get some great action scenes in this movie too and they even pull off an emotional and satisfying ending as well.
I am a huge fan of this movie and think that it is one of the best Disney movies of the 90s. Mulan is such a well-made movie from start to end. It has great characters and a plot that feels like it has some heavy stakes and it looks and sounds incredible as well. I will also say that the Mulan section from Kingdom Hearts II is one of my favorite parts of the entire Kingdom Hearts saga!
