Mulan II

Mulan ended up getting a sequel in 2004, titled Mulan II, which brought back most of the major actors, except for Eddie Murphy, who was replaced by Mark Moseley. The film was directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland.

A month after the events of the first film, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) and Shang (BD Wong) are engaged to be married. But before the marriage, the Emperor (Pat Morita) commands them to escort his three daughters (Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, and Lauren Tom) across the country to meet their arranged fiancés. However, Mushu (Moseley) finds out that he will no longer be a guardian if Mulan and Shang get married and schemes to make them fall out of love.

Mulan II really doesn’t have any of the elements that made the first film so successful. Where the entire plot of the first film revolved around honor and proving yourself, this one is more of a treatise on arranged marriages. However, it doesn’t really derail the characters like some sequels.

It’s kind of odd how Mulan is against the concept of an arranged marriage in this film. While, yes, she is marrying Shang for love, which the novelty of doing so is mentioned many times, it’s established that arranged marriages is how things worked. Also, she herself was going to go through with one for her family at the beginning of the first film, but it (obviously) didn’t pan out.

 But the film is able to keep the characterization from the first film mostly intact. Take Mushu who, in the first film, kept up the charade because he wanted to be a guardian again. He was completely out for himself. Well, he’s still out for himself here because he’s trying to sabotage Mulan and Shang’s marriage just so he can continue being a guardian. The Grandmother is also her usual odd self, even going so far as to take bets on when the proposal would happen.

However, the less said about White Eddie Murphy, the better.

It’s not completely awful, but it’s not good either.

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