Mulan

The 2020 film Mulan is a Disney live-action remake of their classic Renaissance animated film of the same name. It's a study on how not to re-tell a story.

First, let's go over the good parts. It's a pretty little film. It has wuxia feel to it and all the different set pieces are well-made and suitably elaborate. I also liked the costuming and the action choreographies. Suffice to say, this film looks very good.

But then comes the story. You've taken one of the most iconic Disney heroines and you've turned her into a deus ex machina. You've taken a girl who chose to rebel against social expectations and triumph despite all her disadvantages, and you've turned her into the chosen one who succeeds because she was born with magical powers. Can you see how that's so much worse? How that's so much more demeaning?

Add in all the other magical bovine manure and senseless directing choices, and you have a film that has none of the charm of the original. None of the uplifting heroics. None of the gender equality. This Mulan doesn't save China while being a girl. She saves China despite being a girl. Because she was destined to do so and because she's more special than you can ever hope to be.

But it's pretty. It has good action scenes. Nevertheless, it's not a good film.

I've never seen the cartoon version but my daughter has and she loved ir. I promised I'd take her to see this when it came out in the theater. Well, that didn't happen. Although the price tag was a bit high I decided to shell out the 30 bucks (I'd have paid 50 at the movies). We both found the movie enkoyable. It was dramatic, funny in parts, touching in other parts. The scenery was amazing. I'm not sure what people were looking for in this. Apparently there is a talking dragon and singing in the carroon. I'll pass on both. This reminds me of another Disney movie people under-rated because they didn't understand the point: Tron: Legacy. Just chill out and enjoy a movie rather than getting your quarantined panties in a bunch!

If you have never seen the original then you probably won't be that disappointed. The problems with this movie are the stale acting, the lack of comedy from the original film, the removal of the outstanding soundtrack and the beautiful storytelling through singing, and the lack of care placed into making the characters. Is it weird that I don't really care what happens to the characters in this? If you've never seen the original, you'll probably think of this movie as okay (a lot of reviewers here have obviously never seen the original). If you have, then please skip on this movie cause this is a bitter disappointment like a majority of the live action remakes. PLEASE WATCH THE ORIGINAL IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT!

I'm not someone beholden to the songs and characters in the original Mulan. I was excited Disney was steering away from the shot-for-shot remake trend of their live-action retellings. Unfortunately, they went a bit too far in the other direction and made a generic Chinese fantasy martial arts film. The cinematography is great and the colors are often vibrant, but the story is pretty dull. The lead actress is awfully bland as well. The action and music are standouts, but get bogged down by some pacing issues.

My biggest issue with this film though is Mulan herself. Disney has gotten into this awful habit of making their female characters Mary Sues who never struggle or have any character arc (e.g., Rey and Captain Marvel). It's like they don't know how to write female characters, which is insane because it shouldn't be any different than male characters. Mulan in the original was a great character because she used her wits and perseverance to get ahead in a man's world. In this retelling, Mulan is gifted magical powers (?!) from birth and never has to struggle. This movie is almost saying she needs magical powers to be better than men, which is ridiculous. How hard is it to portray female characters that work hard and use ingenuity to advance in society?

This film is ultimately joyless and hollow. There's no Will Smith as Genie or stunning CGI to make this remake stand out. What we end up with is a movie that feels like it was made by committee.

I am frustrated with the reviews here that only talk about the fact that this movie was not a comedy or a musical like Mulan (1998). I love the first Mulan movie and in fact Mulan is one of my favorite Disney characters. I still sing songs from that movie to my children each night. But if I wanted to watch Mulan (1998), I would just watch the original.

This movie is not meant to be a re-make, it is meant to be a re-imagining of a deeper story. A legend. A story about a woman who wants to be TRUE to herself but still respectful of her family, her culture, and her country. I think that the comedic relief of the Mushu character would have taken away from the important message that we can all stand to learn from this legend. Mulan learns that what she has within her is NOT something to be hidden away, but a gift that she can share with the world. I also thought the score of this movie was beautiful and the subtle references to the original brought tears to my eyes.

If you want to watch Mulan (1998), then watch that movie and don't pay the $29.99 to watch this movie. But if you want to watch a movie with beautiful cinematography, music, and a story that any person across generations can learn something from, then I suggest you try this one.