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The Movie: I've had mixed feelings about prior direct-to-video Disney animated releases before - some ("Lion King 1 1/2") have been very enjoyable, but others ("Jungle Book 2") have been very simply ways to get more money out of the audience for the original film. In the case of "Mulan II", the product represents neither the best or worst of the DTV sequels - it's just basically enjoyable fluff. The picture opens with Mulan (Ming-Na) awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend Shang (BD Wong), who will propose marriage. Although the two eventually get engaged, the couple doesn't exactly sit well together, with different ideas about their future. Elsewhere, magical little dragon Mushu (voiced by Mark Moseley, taking over for Eddie Murphy) learns that the mystical ancestors of the husband take over looking over a couple when they get married. In other words, Mushu's getting bumped out - he gets handed a pink slip early in the picture, and decides to get the newlyweds broken up. There's also the matter of an imminent invasion of China - one that the Emperor feels would be stopped by having his daughters Su (Lauren Tom), Mei (Lucy Liu), and Ting Ting (Sandra Oh) marry the princes of the potentially invading country. Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Ling (Gedde Watanabe) are bodyguards who accompany Mulan and Shang in their journey to deliver the princesses, but Mulan doesn't agree with it - she believes that people only in love should marry. The sequel does present a decent plot, but there's a few too many characters doing their own thing in the picture's short 80 minutes to allow all the subplots to be developed enough. The Mushu character is remarkably selfish this time around, as well. On a positive note, I felt that the film's lessons are fairly nicely handled and don't hit the audience over the head. The performances by the voice cast - many of whom are carried over from the first movie - are very fine, as well. The animation is, as expected, a step down from the original's, but it still looks rather good. Overall, this direct-to-video sequel won't be something that the kids and adults can enjoy together, but it should go over well with kids. The DVD VIDEO: "Mulan II" is presented by Disney in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is perfectly pleasant, showing off the animation pretty nicely. Sharpness and detail are satisfactory, as the animation appeared crisp and detailed, with no unreasonable or unexpected softness. The animation is already a little soft, but the presentation shows it well. The picture was free of pixelation and print flaws, which made for a crisp, natural looking image, for the most part. Some slight edge enhancement occasionally appeared, but it really did not become very distracting at all. The film's bright color palette also looked first-rate, with nice saturation and no smearing. SOUND: "Mulan II" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The audio quality is decent, but one can tell that the sound mix has been pulled back in order to make it "easier" for kids to listen to. In other words, there are moments where low bass could have been present, but it isn't. Surround use is also fairly minimal, with only occasional ambience and musical reinforcement. EXTRAS: Four deleted scenes are included, as is a music video by Atomic Kitten. There's also the featurettes, "Voices of Mulan", "The World of Mulan" (with different pieces inside this section), interactive games and trailers. There's also Disney's new "Fastplay" option, which skips the menu and shows the movie and then the supplements w/o having to go through the menus. Final Thoughts: "Mulan II" is a moderately well-done direct-to-video animated feature, with a decent storyline and fine animation. It's something parents may want to consider renting for their kids. Disney's DVD edition provides good audio/video quality and a decent helping of minor supplements. 
Film Grade The Film ** 1/2 DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 86/B Extras: 71/C- |