Mulan review

MULAN:

BELOVED DISNEY ANIMATED FILM GETS AN EXHILARATING ALBEIT FLAWED UPDATE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY

Liu Yifei as Mulan

 

            Let’s get down to business to discuss this film! Another Disney animated classic is brought to the screen in live-action in Mulan, the latest of Disney’s live-action remakes based on the 1998 film of the same name. The original film was a childhood favorite of mine and I have fond memories of seeing it in theaters as a five-year-old and being entranced by the epic scale of it and also of popping the movie in on VHS as well. 

            While I wouldn’t consider the original Mulan to be among one of the Disney greats like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, or The Lion King, it’s still a very enjoyable movie even today. With its stunning and lively animation, a very likable and badass female empowerment protagonist, memorable characters, thrilling action sequences on an epic scale, and fun songs with I’ll Make a Man Out of You as the highlight of both the film and its soundtrack, despite not being a massive box-office success compared to other Disney films it’s easy to see why this movie has a die-hard and well deserved fanbase.

            Now, keeping in the tradition of the live-action Disney remakes it was only a matter of time before Mulan would be chosen to hopefully bring “Honor” to this hit-or-miss series of movies especially after last year’s Lion King remake despite being a financial success resulted in the “LADRS” (Live-Action Disney Remakes, LADR © Nico Beland, 2020) hitting rock bottom. Despite not fully enjoying some of the recent Disney remakes very much (I was not a fan of Aladdin (2019) and the less we speak of Lion King (2019), the better!), I remained optimistic and open-minded when Mulan was announced and it looked promising by the trailers and advertisements, not to mention the film is directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country, McFarland, USA), who also directed the acclaimed and phenomenal Whale Rider. 

            This film takes a more action-adventure/drama approach that’s darker and more adult compared to the light-hearted, musical/comedy tone of the original and removes the comedic side characters like Mushu and the Cricket (Don’t get me wrong, they’re wonderful characters in the original film but given the more serious tone of this version they wouldn’t work here!), also it marks the first live-action Disney remake to earn a PG-13 rating so yeah…don’t expect any songs, silly hijinks and slapstick, men in drag, or Eddie Murphy voiced dragons here. 

            Mulan (2020) had a lot going for it and there are a lot of things to admire about it, but does it make up for the taint of some of the bad Disney remakes in recent years? Not really, but at least this one’s pretty good. I still prefer the animated original because of its energy and passion, but this new retelling of the Mulan story is a welcome companion for it while still remaining a solid, standalone movie on its own merits even if it has a few rusty spots in the armor as is usually the case with most of Disney’s remakes good and bad, but we’ll get to that soon. 

            The film follows Mulan (Liu Yifei-The Forbidden Kingdom, The Four trilogy, The Assassins), a young girl in China trying her hardest to bring honor to her family. However, when her father (Tzi Ma-Rush Hour 1 and 3, Arrival, The Farewell) is drafted into a war despite his frail health, Mulan takes matters into her own hands and takes in place by masquerading as a man. 

            Mulan’s skills will be tested every step of the way as she embarks on a literal and spiritual journey to become an honored warrior and fight to protect her nation and her family from the ruthless Not Shan Yu, Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee-Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, The Jungle Book (1994), Lilo & Stitch) and a powerful, shapeshifting witch (Gong Li-Eros, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Monkey King 2). 

            The film also stars Donnie Yen (Ip Man franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, XXX: Return of Xander Cage) as Commander Tung, Yoson An (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, The Meg, Dead Lucky) as Chen Honghui, Jet Li (Fearless, War, The Forbidden Kingdom) as the Emperor of China, Rosalind Chao (AfterMASH, Star Trek: The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine, The O.C.) as Hua Li, Ron Yuan (Sons of Anarchy, Prison Break, CSI: NY) as Sergeant Qiang, Jimmy Wong (Video Game High School, Feast of Fiction, John Dies at the End) as Ling, Chen Tang (The Jane Pendant, Brian Banks, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Yao, Doua Moua (Gran Torino, Memoria, Iron Fist) as Chien-Po, Nelson Lee (Law & Order, Oz, Strip Search) as The Chancellor, and Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink with Me, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Legendary Amazons) as The Matchmaker. 

            Overall, Mulan (2020) may not be perfect but it’s easily one of the better live-action Disney remakes without a doubt that for the most part works as a faithful retelling of the animated film while also being a decent standalone movie as well. It doesn’t hammer the original into your head like a lot of their other remakes do but rather tell the well-known story in a new light and to that I commend the effort. 

            From a visual perspective, this movie is gorgeous and one of the best looking out of the Disney remakes, from the production design and special effects to the exhilarating action sequences, almost every scene feels epic and like it’s been shot on this grand scale, it really makes me wish movie theaters were open again in the area I live in, but I digress (I watched it on Disney+). 

            The film does pay homage to the 1998 movie at times either through dialogue that reference Honor to Us All and I’ll Make a Man Out of You, a cameo by Ming-Na Wen who originally voiced Mulan in the film, and both an English and Chinese cover of the song Reflection during the end credits and unlike something like the Lion King remake which was almost literally line for line from its animated predecessor, the callbacks to it are not distracting at all. 

            For the most part, I still prefer the original but if there is one thing the remake did a lot better was represent Chinese culture, it’s there in the 1998 film don’t get me wrong but not nearly as much as this. The architecture, the costumes, the fight sequences, and even references to the philosophy of fighting and chi. 

            Even though I thought this was a decent retelling overall, it does have some major problems that deem it inferior to the 1998 movie. Some that I personally had issue with are the lack of development for the side characters specifically the other soldiers, the villains are pretty weak, and one of my biggest complaints with most of Disney’s remakes, heavily watering down some of the best character moments from the originals (In this movie’s case, the scene where Mulan takes her father’s armor is severely botched in this version), but those are some (mostly) minor nitpicks to a perfectly serviceable remake. 

            If you’re a fan of the original movie or curious to see how this remake holds up, then you’ll probably enjoy this new adaptation of Mulan, even if it doesn’t quite live up to its animated predecessor. Sure, it’s flawed and has Disney’s thumbprints all over it, but I’ll gladly take this over the Aladdin, and Lion King remakes any day.