Mulan - Nostalgia Critic

this episode brought to you by hellofresh delicious pre-measured ingredients and simple chef made recipes delivered to your doorstep every week also join us this saturday on twitch for a live charity stream september 5th from noon to 10. hope to see you there [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] hello i'm the nostalgia critic i remember it so you don't have to well with the first disney live action remake coming out that people are actually saying it wow it only makes sense to look back at in my opinion one of the most interesting animated disney films [Music] mulan i say interesting not because i think the film is particularly fascinating but because of the following it's acquired released in 1998 i was still in high school when this film came out and the reaction people my age or older had was an astounding that was okay it's no lion king but the characters were decent the songs were humble it's a totally serviceable flick but the reactions from kids were quite different children loved this movie and more importantly it stayed with them to a point where now those children are grown up they're showing it to their kids and they're having the exact same reaction this has resulted in memes fan art merchandise don't even get me started on this [ __ ] and once again a very hyped up remake the closest disney comparison i could think of for this would be a goofy movie it's nothing epic but it's truck accord spoke a language that connected with a generation that loves to quote the lines and celebrate the film mulan has an even bigger advantage as it was a bigger hit than a goofy movie not frozen levels per se but it turned in a decent payday so why has this film grown such a unique but large fan base over the years and why is it still going strong what did people like me who saw the film as passable but nothing special myths that younger crowds gravitated towards well let's get down to business and take a look at mulan admit it you're humming that song in your head right now the film opens with an attack on the great wall by the huns and the emperor of china played by pamerita since they must recruit more soldiers to defeat them a single grain of rice can tip the scale one man or woman or woman may be the difference between victory and defeat this brings us to milan voiced by ming na wen making cheat notes for impressing the matchmaker we are counting on you to uphold the family honor don't worry father i won't let you down oh if only i knew chinese instead of english meanwhile mulan's mother and grandmother wait both parents are alive in this disney film oh make a wish my 10 inch penis my wish came true try to help mulan out by getting her dressed up and even giving her a lucky cricket this leads to the song you'll bring honor to us all hey very nice executor for touching a man's things just my recipe for instant pride the song is a catchy tune cleverly pointing out the ironies of enforcing gender roles ironically used in ads enforcing gender roles meeting the matchmaker everything must be perfect but isn't this what she doesn't want to be in the movies damn i thought only eddie murphy would be using that language oh i really am too old for some of this you must demonstrate a sense of dignity as you'd imagine clumsy 90s rom-com mulan accidentally messes things up resulting in some wacky slapstick it's pretty standard though i will admit this did get a laugh damn it i picked the extra flammable fan you may look like a bride but you will never bring your family honor why is it when that makeup is supposed to look funny on her it looks scary but when it's supposed to look scary on ronin it looks funny mulan goes home disgraced and sings reflection sung by leia salonga can it be i'm not meant to play this part i'll admit i was shocked to rediscover how surprisingly short this song is where most emotional disney ballads usually run between two and a half to three minutes reflection is only a minute and a half long that's not a ton of time to get an emotional impact but even with that said the song might actually be more poignant now than it was before see back then a lot of people saw this as just another wanting more song which had become a little stuck by that point but when you really take in the lyrics of your reflection not representing who you are and the increased awareness and identity around gender sexuality and online personas it surprisingly grows in relevance i get the feeling this song might actually make a stronger connection now with some people than it did when it first came out in fact i do have to admit a lot of these songs are better than i remember them i think i was always comparing them to knockouts like part of your world and belle but these really do hold their own years later i was impressed how much i like them looking back my my what beautiful blossoms we have this year her father gives a nice talk about well they're surrounded by flowers so of course late bloomers this one's late but i'll bet that when it blooms it will be the most beautiful of all and it might pretend to have a penis that's very important they're given the news that a male from every household must serve in the army to defeat the huns naturally mulan's father is too old to serve but it's not looking like they have any other choice you'll die for honor i will die doing what's right but if i know my place it is time you learned yours as well as what it's worth thirty dollars is pretty steep man mulan says screw this no girls treehouse [ __ ] and disguises herself as a boy to join the army in her father's place she could be killed if i reveal her she will be they will murder her if they discover she's not technically a disney princess don't say that so loud mulan's ancestors led by the voice of george takei have a meeting to discuss what is to be done which of course leads to the introduction of our comic relief mushu played by eddie murphy anybody who's foolish enough to threaten our family vengeance will be mine so from what i can gather people are kind of split on this character i don't know anyone who hates him like jar jar but i don't know anyone who loves him like genie either he seems remarkably out of place but to the film's credit i think that's part of the comedy he's animated well i want to laugh at him i just don't think he's given a ton of funny things to say what this here ah jump back i'm pretty hot huh who made me had to send you know why that proved no point in something like shrek he can get a little bit more risque which i think plays more to murphy's strengths i say we take the sword and knew them right here give him the bob barker treatment this i see his donkey light it's familiar enough but jesus i miss the stuff that's bad for you but to be fair he does get a chuckle here and there though like i have to admit i never really thought about the fact that he's responsible for a man's death your misguidance led farting to disaster yeah thanks a lot not even sure how that happened i was cat sitting in fact he's ordered to wake up another guardian to look after mulan but he accidentally destroys the statue and uses its decapitated head to fool the others meaning that's two murders he's technically responsible for where do ghosts go when they die anyway i'll make mulan a war hero and they'll be begging me to come back to work he and the cricket go after mulan and were introduced to the leader of the huns shanyu voiced by miguel ferrer nice work gentlemen you found the hun army i know this is an unpopular opinion but this is one of the most boring disney villains to me he looks cool he's voiced by a good actor before a studio that brought us some of the greatest villains of all time he does and says the most generic bad guy stuff by building his wall he challenged my strength well i'm here to play his game i'm ready game strength challenge ready all his lines sound like evil nike posters i think of the manipulation the backstabbing the diabolical plans that made me hate the other baddies with such delight all he does is say kill people and his army kills people tell your emperor to send his strongest armies part of that might be he's not on screen very long had they shown him say planning his strategy or explaining why he's fighting or showing more of his abusive power over his prisoners or hell even his soldiers might totally be on board but all of that i guess is done off screen there's a scene where he finds a doll and says he best return it to its owner and then later you see a village burned down that's like frollo saying find the gypsy girl and then you just cut to paris on fire it's not nearly the same yeah he does bad stuff i mean that's a whole village of families burnt to the ground but it's like a documentary on a serial killer saying what he did not how or why he did it oh wait right he was enticed guess that's all we need the emperor will stop you he invited me if you like this dude cool but he doesn't do anything for me i think the only intimidating moment i got out of him was this scene how many men does it take to deliver a message one you missed nest again there you go meanwhile mulan practices acting like a dude i see you have a sword i have one too they're very manly and i'd laugh but i've heard larpers say that word for word mushu approaches and lets her know he's there to help her out my ancestor sent a little lizard to help me drag gun not lizard i don't do that tongue thing hey don't rule that out man a lot of lady dragons like that stuff is he there son if i was my real size your cow here would die fright for instance my eyes can see straight through your armor oh rated g dishon on your whole family this honor on you design on your cow but there's so much merchandise to be utilized from this why hello fresh i see you've come to play our server part game of two-person telephone how dare you use that language but yes you can start get fresh pre-measured 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follow instructions and delicious recipes always make cooking a delight let me talk in fact there's a special deal go to hellofresh.com critic 80 and use the co critic 80 to get a total of 80 off including free shipping off your first box additional restrictions apply please visit hellofresh.com for more details this was fun hellofresh i love you remember that's hellofresh.comcritic80 and use the code critic 80 to get a total of 80 off like our videos subscribe to be notified about them want to actually be notified about them click on that bell as well also don't forget to check us out on twitch playing some games telling some jokes and overall having a good time hope to see you there [Music] [Applause] it's strange that this film decided to go with one prominent character for the comic relief as when mulan walks in to join the army the laughs happen quite naturally this is a pretty funny army there's a short anger-prone dude played by harvey fierstein a lanky show-off played by getty wananabe and a calm giant played by jerry tondo they all get a fair amount of laughs even murphy sneaks in a good chuckle i am worth my time chicken boy chicken boy say that to my face your limp noodle let's see nope i'm right under the radar mulan trying to fit in as a boy is also pretty entertaining i didn't know fargo had a scene he doesn't talk about me much i can see why this is good comedic writing the first third of the movie has a hint of a rushed feel to it with the story characters and even length of the songs hitting sort of the bare minimum requirements for a film like this but i'm starting to think that was done just to reach this part of the movie not only is mulan training and just interacting with the army throughout the majority of the film but it feels like the movie suddenly turns on when she does the energy is high the comedy is tight the slapstick is well timed and donnie osmond sings a song i can't believe i'm saying that as a positive either [Music] this is hands down the breakout song of the movie where the others get decent hits on youtube for a disney musical averaging 20 mil or so make a man is currently at 122 million honestly i can't say i'm surprised it's just a fun song it's catchy as hell it's orchestrated nice and it's a training montage man you can throw some rocky clips in there and nobody would have a problem [Music] i like too that mulan isn't naturally a fighter nothing about her background or environment would indicate that she would be in fact if anything it makes her risk and sacrifice all the more meaningful she's going into a fight not knowing how to fight she has to learn like everyone else which allows growth for the character as well as growth with the army and once again it leads to some great laughs the face that launched a million profile icons in another very funny scene mulan tries bathing in the lake when of course some of the other soldiers get the same idea leading to probably my favorite line in the entire film there are a couple of things i know they're bound to notice i know it's a kiss film so i won't say what it is but rhymes with newbies and i am yao king of the rock and that's just what he's called mushu bites one of them to get mulan away and she overhears captain shang voiced by bd wong being chewed out by the emperor's advisor voiced by james hong for what it's worth i think you're a great captain that young man fills me with hope and some other emotions that are weird and deeply confusing me mushu dresses up as a messenger which i'm honestly shocked hasn't become a parade character at disney giving orders for the army to head out this leads to the final song of the film and probably the weakest girl worth fighting for hey think of instead a girl worth fighting for it's not bad i guess it's just between the over-the-top instrumentals and the comedic singing it can get a tad grating my manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to throw her best choice for singers since return of jafar said let's not give gilbert godfrey one but two songs hashtag girl power [Music] that's totally a chick right yeah but it's cool one of our pickers is actually a dude oh how long did you know huh for soldiers it sure took us a while to notice that maybe we shouldn't sing any more horny songs my father should have been here captain they come across a burnt village as well as a burnt army with the dead general being shang's father despite the pain he decides to move the army forward to try and stop the huns when this occurs what happened uh you just gave away our position no that's a good question what did happen did it go off on its own did mushu trigger it this leads to a big action sequence and it's never made clear what sets it off it doesn't ruin too much i guess it's just odd that it's never clarified i mean is mushu now responsible for 2p headings and an army's demise he's almost as evil as he was in mulan 2. almost mulan gets an idea to cause an avalanche with one of the cannons wiping out the majority of shenyu's army and for a film that visually plays it rather safe these are some pretty cool shots that's some disney frying the coke logic [Music] there all right he does get the laughs when it counts also what's his death toll up to now mulan saves the day but a battle wound causes her to pass out the doctor takes a little too good a look [Music] i never thought i'd see the day when i was disappointed to see press the law requires shang to kill her but he lets her live for you know saving like a bajillion lives fair trade i should never have left home i usually hate these third act moping scenes where people take something the wrong way and you know the hero's gonna win them over you just have to slump through it but murphy is pretty good at being affectionate here while also working in a giggle or two what what do you mean you're not lucky and what are you a sheep they should be telling me half the actors in this aren't even asian or that the cast of aladdin on arabian cancel disney yeah let me let me know how that goes of course shang yu is still alive and he gathers what's left of his men to capture the emperor during a celebration the huns are alive they're in the city you don't belong here milan go home one day i'm gonna marry that man please you have to help they don't listen to her ending up in the emperor being kidnapped the logical solution or um a solution [Music] got an extra dress for me yeah so i get the idea they're switching it up too like mulan did and it's cute but i think this is when it hits you you've been watching a comedy the whole time it's a comedy with serious moments but it's a comedy i would have liked a more serious climax for the battle of china you think of aladdin battling a magic snake ariel battling a giant sea witch simba battling his uncle this is a big dude battling a teenager while some guys make kissy faces in drag also a firework is what kills the villain off after an impression of batman or rambo and i don't even know who are you your worst nightmare it's fine i guess i mean those other climaxes have funny moments too but did you think a movie advertised like this endangered the lives of thousands of men and with a poster like this was gonna end like this can't you at least give me one badass move not quite all right that was pretty sweet mulan saves the day but you know tits and all she's a hero he's a woman she'll never be worth anything except again hopefully thirty dollars enough the emperor has some choice words though you stole your father's armor impersonated a soldier dishonored the chinese army destroyed my palace but it was damn good flying you have saved us all they all bowed to her before returning the king made a queue and she celebrated as a hero the emperor even does her the favor of playing matchmaker for her you don't meet a girl like that every dynasty i'd tap that she returns home and her father couldn't be more proud but her grandma's upset she didn't bring home some ass if you ask me she should have brought home a man excuse me your swamolan live here sign me up for the next war i tap that would you like to stay for dinner mushu is allowed back as a guardian and a pop song plays us out [Music] again not exactly circle of life or part of your world but maybe that's not exactly what this was meant to be i'd be lying if i said i didn't think this was going to be closer to what the live-action film is building up you know more epic and serious and really embracing the chinese culture you know without eddie murphy jokes but as i'm learning more and more i should accept mulan for what it is and not for what i wanted to be and mulan honestly is a lot of fun if you accept it more as a comedy adventure which i think a lot of people do i think it not only holds up but the emotional moments hit a little stronger as a serious film there wouldn't be nearly enough of the character struggle or dramatic pacing but as something a little lighter you could argue this is just the perfect amount i'll also give credit that while i never saw the disney heroines as weak as some others do i can't really think of one that wielded a weapon before there is something cool about a disney princess lineup and one of them is holding a sword i can see more and more why this film caught on with kids it has a lot of energy in its animation songs and comedy it doesn't skip over the dramatic moments either they're just not focused on as much even though it was never one of my personal favorites i will say i do remember a lot of it whenever somebody quotes a line i do always know the context despite not watching it a ton i think kids and adults over time have really learned to warm up to the charm of it whether you're moved by it empowered by it or just watch it for some laughs it doesn't look like this film is going to be dying in popularity anytime soon i'm the nostalgia critic i remember it so you don't have to say that to my face your lip noodle hey doug walker here doing the charity shout out once again doing a charity tied into uh battling covet 19 and this week we are doing crisis aid uh this is a charity that has a four stars on charity navigator and uh give you an idea what they do the organization uh assists in sustaining life and collaborates with other relief organizations in bringing necessary food materials and medicines to people in times of crisis definitely in that now particularly uh life and death situations very very much what's happening right now too uh in response to the urgent needs created by kovit 19 crisis aid has a local presence through through its wing of love and care program this is expanding its current food programs by working alongside local leaders schools churches and senior living communities through these strategic partners crisis aid is serving food to those with the greatest need in east africa efforts are underway to provide food and medical assistance to the most vulnerable populations during this time of crisis existing programs are being converted to medical clinics in areas with no access to medicines or medical care as well so as you can see this is an organization that does so much and they were doing so much even before uh kova 19 i mean this really is what they specialize in and they have a great rating like i said before on charity navigator so please definitely take a look it is also one you can volunteer at if you want uh you know if you don't have uh money to give but but if you do have money to give or again just spreading the word at all uh that'd be fantastic because this is just filled with people doing such good and kind work so please check them out see if you can spread the word and thank you so much

Channel: Channel Awesome

Views: 721,507

Keywords: channel awesome, nostalgia critic, mulan, mulan review, mulan movies, new mulan movie, mulan 2020, mulan 1998, movie, film, disney, disney movies, movie review, film review, movie discussion, critic, review, best disney movies, doug walker, nostalgic, animated disney movies, 90s movies, nostalgic movies, Disney Renaissance, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, funny movie review, funny review

Id: Yv6Hi495gQY

Length: 26min 22sec (1582 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 02 2020