The Mourninc Scene? Really?
I'm sorry, I couldn't warm up with that one at all.
"Oh look the bandits are fleeing over a bridge. How convenient. Don't tell me they're going to cut it down, just as Mulan and Shang are standing on it. OF COURSE!"
I thought it was emotionally over the top and a ridiculous cliche :/
I mean come on - how often have we seen breaking bridges before, and how many Disney Deaths have we seen before? No one dies in a Disney Movies. No one except the villain (who was nonexistent in Mulan 2)
(Which is why people were so outrageously shocked from Princess and the Frog.)
As for the Mulan 2 sequel, personally the parting scene of Mushu and Mulan got me a lot worse, but hey that's probably just me
BUT! Let’s give the whole sequence a little credit. Let’s take a look at it
There is a HUGE animation shift during the Bridge scene with shining light for Yao and Mei and lots of intense red for Shang and Mulan. Basically the same trick they used for when he was about to behead her in the first movie (while he was holding the sword there were red clouds on the sky, once it lay in the snow, the sky was ‘calm’)
Her expressions during the actual fall are… actually better than I remember. I do like how her hair falls around her like crazy, showing the audience how much it wears on her.
And then WHOOP Moodshift. All the colors turn blue and cold, it started raining. You see everyone mourn separately, Mushu shifts out of the bag, watches Mulan and by the way he looks most likely blames himself for all of that mess.
Now here comes what irritates me.
AXIS Shot with three Center shots coming after it. The picture looks too symmetric. A symmetric shot is balanced out, it is spreading calmness; it looks… serene. But that is NOT what is supposed to be said here - …or is it? There is no word whatsoever except for athmo sounds (I terribly dislike that shot with her reflection in the sword btw. Something about Mulan looks REALLY off there and Shang staring back at her… naaaah) And then BAM! The Frog Perspective Dutch Angle, Mulan breaks and rams the sword down.
The following image sections are quite alright, the sword in the ground-shot from the front actually has a golden shot… You hear her sob and see her shake (mostly the arms) and then she’s the center of a picture again, serving as a vanishing point where all the others march up to. For all the time Mulan remains frozen on the ground, her hands resting on the sword.
The “I’m finishing this mission” afterwards, as nice as it is depicted… it IRKS me. Because basically. She is TOO badass in this moment. She makes it sound like the mentioned-but-never-seen-villain, plus troups are waiting around the corner and she’s going to take out her rage on him by EFFIN DARN SLICING THEIR LEADER IN HALF. But noooo, she’s gonna marry!
Wait – NO! Don’t slice your future husband Mulan D8
…
I guess what they say IS true. When you start that kind of apprenticeship you CANNOT watch movies normally anymore.