Mulan is a Chinese princess who ran away from home to fight in the war.
The legend of “Mulan” is a movie about a young Chinese woman. Once she found out about the war, Mulan became fearful that her elderly father might be drafted to the war. Since this was before the 20th century, women were not allowed to be in the war. Knowing this, Mulan cut her long black hair and tapped her chest to appear more man-like. She falls in love with her captain and her entire ward eventually finds out that she is a woman after she defeats Bori Kahn and his invaders.
The song “Reflection” is sung by singer and actress Ming-Na Wen. The song is about when Mulan starts to feel as if she is completely worthless for not living up to social standards. Listeners can hear this when Mulan starts to sing the chorus in a sad and mellow tone. As the song goes on, Mulan’s voice is still strong yet more emotional and heartfelt.
The song “Honor to Us All” is sung by voice actors Lea Salonga, Marni Nixon and Beth Fowler. This song is about Mulan going through the motions of being next in line to be married off to a man with high honor. The singing in this song can seem very nasally and more of a passive tone. The old fashioned music playing in the background adds on to the way the women teach Mulan. Though the song is very repetitive, the women sing in beautiful harmonies throughout the song.
This movie deserves a 10/10 because of the historically accurate depiction of the real Chinese tale of Mulan and because of the many powerful messages it sends to younger viewers: to never give up despite many obstacles.
