Calvin Xiong

8.5/10 (NON-SPOILER REVIEW) This movie was probably a little bit too fast a pace for what it tries to accomplish but at the same time, does a great job at paying homage to Dragonball fans. As what it reaches with Gohan, Piccolo was the star of the movie. Although everything was paying tribute to what fans have always wanted, I’ve stated before that everything happened a little too fast and could’ve definitely been spanned out as a longer film or just been it’s own mini series. Not only is it fast paced but it’s 3D visuals definitely downgrade from a what beautiful hand drawn art we last saw in, “DBS: Broly”. Despite its flaws, the movie really does a great job at representing itself for what it tries to be. It’s funny, energetic, exciting and does keep you on your toes near the end of it all. Overall this movie is great and if you’re a Dragonball fan, this will definitely scratch the itch you’ve been waiting for. I would also like to pay tribute to how much of a father figure Piccolo is and just how horrible Goku and Gohan are as fathers. Guess some things do run in the family more than it should.

This movie was utterly garbage. It was so horribly paced to the point where scenes that were supposed to have impact and meaning, meant little to nothing at all. During the film, you will notice just how fast everything flies by. Character development and growth are not present at all with this movie due to the horrible pacing. Characters like Shien Po and the other two stooges make a return but are just so useless. Their interactions with Mulan happen barely so often that it just makes no sense for them to even become friends with Mulan. Our Captain Li Shang is replaced by such a forgettable character that I even forgot his name. This character develops feelings for Mulan within such short period of time that it just dishonors what Li Shang’s character meant in the original film and how greatfully he impacted the story in that one. They try something new but in the end did not stick the landing. Cricket makes his way back into the film but not like how you think..he’s a goddamn soldier. Yep, that’s right. A soldier. He is so useless in this movie I don’t understand why the camera always ends scenes with his face looking terrified from the beginning towards the first battle of the movie when he only says a couple short lines of dialogue and feels just so plain that it shames what his character was in the animated film. Should have just left Cricket out if leaving out Mushu and Li Shang was the plan because turning Cricket into a soldier with no character development like everyone else was a spit to our faces for $30. This movie is so confused all the time that we get to sequences of certain points in movies that we don’t even see. For example, we don’t even see Mulan climb up towards the mountain to shoot her arrows, she’s just already there. Or when the most important scene in the animated film is just rushed in the live action where she leaves her family behind making a defining choice to defend her family’s life rather than her own. There’s no growth in this movie at all that when she rides out into battle as Hua Mulan instead of Hua Jun, you don’t feel anything but empty emotions. This film had no build up to this point whereas in the animated film, there was a lot of guidance from lead characters such as, Mushu, Li Shang and the three stooges that helped Mulan reach that point in the story. Overall, this movie was so bland and left just a empty bitterness taste in my mouth that left me wanting to go back and watch the original and forget that this movie ever came out.