Aladdin Central Messageboard

Ariellen · Scourge of the Desert Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 708

OK, I see there was a thread about this forever ago, but when I go to read it, after the first page, it's telling me 'no posts exist for this topic.' And being that that page was talking about the coincidence that Jodi and Robbie Benson have the same last name and aren't related...yeah, I'm bringing up the subject.

OH MY GOODNESS, I laughed so hard at this movie. Unfortunately, I don't think my laughter was the sort that they were going for...

Has anyone else seen this? It's excruciatingly predictable (yes, even for a Disney D2V), well, except for the random battle sequence thrown in that really doesn't seem to make any sense. Who fed Mulan all the sugar? She had one part where she was in extreme anguish and the artwork and Ming-Na's voice work were really good...but...beyond that...between her and the Princesses, the girlish giggling and squealing was way over the top. Animation of Shang while he's arguing with Mulan really, really bugged me. He had saucer eyes!

The songs were pretty average-to-bad. Mulan's singing was written in a higher register than "Reflection" and she went straight from talking into singing, so the difference in voice timbre was MUCH more obvious than in the original. Mushu was consistently annoying, although the guy who voiced him did a practically dead-on Eddie Murphy. The Princesses were annoying, and their song made me want to be ill. "NO PINCHY SHOOOOOOOOEEEEEES!!!!!" *headdesk* And when they went 'flying' in the 'dream sequence' part of the song, I was in hysterics. Dude, why did they hire Lea Salonga and Judy Kuhn to sing these songs?! They seemed to go over the top with "let's not offend anyone; we'll make Mulan and Fa Zhou say everything in the most profound way possible so we're not implying that we think anything bad about Asians"...sort of the way a lot of the dialogue in Pocahontas is over-the-top sounding. (Big words whenever possible, speaking in metaphors and proverbs, etc. to the point where it seems pretentious.)

And the cover of the Princesses' song "Like Other Girls" by Atomic Kitten (What kind of band name IS that?!!)? Even WORSE than the movie version, and that says something...

AladdinsGenie · Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:29 pm Post subject:

The bridge scene is about all I can watch that movie for Laughing

. It just....WHAT? SO opposite from the first one.

Syera · Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:38 pm Post subject:

Aye, it was a piece of Absolute Awfulosity, wasn't it?

I think the thing that killed me off the most was the butcheration of Ling, Chien Po, and Yao. They totally skooshed their characters flat. Urgh.

I was actually impressed that the actor sounded so much like Eddie Murphy - 'specially since he's white. Wow. Too bad they had to make the character so annoying, though.

*Sigh* Sadly, sequel songs are almost always substandard. For the most part they all sound like they were hacked up in five minutes by people who never knew how to write lyrics in the first place. (I think RoJ and KoT were overall better in the sequel song department, but I could be a bit biased. No, on second thought, the songs were pretty good.) Oh, why, why, why, WHY can't they hire a lyricist with a little rhetoric running in their ribonucleics?* Or hire musicians who can piece together a basic tune that doesn't sound like a gazillion other tunes?!

Bridge scene? Bridge scene bridge scene bridge scene... I forgot that one. Um, refresher?

*Yes, I am just showing off now.
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AladdinsGenie · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:54 am Post subject:

Syera · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:34 am Post subject:

Er... getting nothing...
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Jafaria · Vizier's Handmaiden Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 419

Am I the only person who liked Mulan 2? I ordinarily hate Disney sequels, and I don't LOVE Mulan 2 or anything, but Mulan 2 was passable. I liked it better than Little Mermaid 2 anyway.

Syera · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:08 am Post subject:

It had its likeable moments and I won't say it made me want to spork my eyes out, but a good chunk of the characters were so out-of-charcter and/or flattened it was pathetic. I saw the movie once; I have no strong desire to see it again.

And no, it wasn't as bad as LM2. Urgh...
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AladdinsGenie · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:11 am Post subject:

Ariellen · Scourge of the Desert Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 708

Janette Morgan · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 3:54 pm Post subject:

Hmm... the only song I remember from BatB:TEC is "Don't Fall In Love", and I was REALLY impressed with that one. I think it was the special effects that done me over.

TLM:RttS, on the other hand... THAT I am qualified to kvetch over. Their "Fitting In" piece was clearly supposed to be the partner to "Part Of Your World", with one BIG exception: It made me want to hurl. Barf. Blow chunks. Make a technicolor tribute to Disney. Consult the Porcelain Professor on my V.D. You get the idea. "Adventurers Slash Explorers" wasn't much better -- they waste several minutes singing about their newfound partnership when they could be doing something interesting, like... I dunno... ADVANCING THE PLOT or something. Or just GETTING to Atlantica. Yeah, that would have been good. The final song... "We're All United Now! Yay! Just Like in The Lion King! Our Peoples Are Joined! Interspecies Relationships Initiate!"

But before somebody gets the urge to slap me, I'll just mosey back to the topic.

Yeah, the songs in Mulan 2 were sucky. The first one drove me NUTS -- it was like a kiddie-fied version of "I'll Make A Man Out of You". "Be Like Other Girls" wasn't bad, except that clearly they want to be like Western tomboys, not little Chinese girls. Ugggh.

I didn't think Chien Po was too butchered, but Ling? AAAAAAGH! He was a ROMANTIC! Not a COMEDIAN! MUSHU was the comedian, for the love of Pete! And Mushu... they CLEARLY overlooked several major plot points, in that 1: Mushu was one of twelve different guardians, 2: Mushu had only been demoted because of incompetence, and 3: none of the other eleven guardians had anyone to watch after either. I mean, HOW MUCH OF A BRAIN DOES IT TAKE?!

More than they used to make the movie, obviously. Instead, Mulan 2 follows the footsteps of TLK:SP and TLM/RttS, and the entire message is "Let's set aside our differences and work together from now on!" followed closely by "Everyone can marry whoever they want, there are no consequences!" HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES CAN THEY CRAM THAT DOWN OUR THROATS?!

Sorry. I just really get to resenting the repetitive preachiness of these sequels.

And now, so I don't sound like a complete baddie, I will point out that there were several things I did like about Mulan 2. Yao, for instance, was very chivalrous, which was cute. The revelation behind Ting-Ting's reluctance to laugh was also great. The line "I saved the food!" was quite cute, also, and Mulan's reaction when she learned that the girls were the Emporer's daughter was, in a word, well-done. And, of course, Mushu's VA was an excellent doppelganger.

But then they toss it in with hackneyed schlock like the "girly conspiracies", the "arranged marriages are BAD" idea, which they ALSO keep trying to cram down our throats, and the single, unforgiveable piece of dialogue: "I wouldn't want to peel your paint!" And, in their laziness, the only thing they managed to create was Another Obnoxious Disney Sequel.

Aaaaand there's my opinion. Which tends to be very strong and full of itself.
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Syera · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

Yeah, now that you mention it, most of 'em do have that whole put-aside-our-differences-and-get-along plot. Nothing wrong with it... the first FIVE MILLION SIX HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE TIMES!

...Ahem... now that I've got that out... *cough*

And... umm... well, I think you've hit it on the head pretty well. Can't think of anything useful to add.

Janette Morgan · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:28 pm Post subject:

Okay, you're right, I don't. I like interspecies relationships. Although "Interspecies Relationships Initiate!" sounds like some kind of magical-superheroine cry used to bring out her latent dad's genetics so she can use them to Fight Evil. (You know how love-themed those cartoons can be...

)
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"I will keep a permanent marker on hand in the event that I have to make an emergency seal." -If J Were The Alchemist

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Syera · Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:40 pm Post subject:

Ack! Oh, please, don't go there...
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Emmlei · Prince/Princess Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 184

I liked parts of Mulan 2, but yeah, there were inconsitencies out the wazoo. But it's not as bad as Brother Bear 2. I only saw it because my brother will buy just about any DVD. The term "forgone conclusion" is practically an understatement.

But some of Melissa Ethridge's songs were pretty good, if only they weren't with the film