Mulan
Year: 2020
Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Jet Li, Yifei Liu, Tzi Ma & Donnie Yen
Runtime: 115 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 11/12/20
Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Jet Li, Yifei Liu, Tzi Ma & Donnie Yen
Runtime: 115 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 11/12/20
Some of you may remember that last year I gave The Lion King my worst film of the year award for its utterly lifeless and uninspired attempt at remaking an iconic and beloved masterpiece of animation. Not only did it fail to justify its existence, but it tarnished the legacy that The Lion King left behind because it removed the emotional core of the story for some awful Seth Rogen jokes and flashy CG animation.
Earlier this year Mulan released to an underwhelming reception when it launched as a Premium Video on Demand title on Disney Plus (meaning you had to pay to watch it on top of your usual subscription). Approximately three months later it is now available to anyone with a Disney Plus subscription at no extra cost. Unwilling to part with my money for the Premium release I have now finally seen what so many were disappointed with earlier this year, and yet again Disney has managed to tarnish the image of another one of their iconic animated films by creating something that spits in the face of what that film represented.
Mulan (Yifei Liu) is a young woman growing up in the ancient Chinese Empire. She is a gifted fighter, trained by her father (Tzi Ma) when she was young, but now is set to be paired with a male by the village matchmaker. Things do not go as planned and Mulan is blamed for the ensuing chaos, dishonouring her family in the process.
Meanwhile war is brewing between the Empire and an army of Rouran warriors. In order to effectively combat this threat, the Empire demands that all families offer up one male to join the army. Mulan’s father being the only male in the family accepts the request despite his poor physical health. In order to protect her father and restore honour to her family, Mulan disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the army.
Earlier this year Mulan released to an underwhelming reception when it launched as a Premium Video on Demand title on Disney Plus (meaning you had to pay to watch it on top of your usual subscription). Approximately three months later it is now available to anyone with a Disney Plus subscription at no extra cost. Unwilling to part with my money for the Premium release I have now finally seen what so many were disappointed with earlier this year, and yet again Disney has managed to tarnish the image of another one of their iconic animated films by creating something that spits in the face of what that film represented.
Mulan (Yifei Liu) is a young woman growing up in the ancient Chinese Empire. She is a gifted fighter, trained by her father (Tzi Ma) when she was young, but now is set to be paired with a male by the village matchmaker. Things do not go as planned and Mulan is blamed for the ensuing chaos, dishonouring her family in the process.
Meanwhile war is brewing between the Empire and an army of Rouran warriors. In order to effectively combat this threat, the Empire demands that all families offer up one male to join the army. Mulan’s father being the only male in the family accepts the request despite his poor physical health. In order to protect her father and restore honour to her family, Mulan disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the army.
This remake of Mulan is nowhere near as bad as the remake of The Lion King was and for the most part can be an enjoyable film when looked at as a standalone entity. However, when compared to the animated film it is based upon it is clear to see that almost no attempt was made to ensure the message or emotional core of that film remained intact. Where the animated film was empowering to women because Mulan was just an average girl, from an average town, who took it upon herself to something extraordinary to prove herself and her family worthy of honour; the live action version instead gives Mulan magic powers and that essentially means that this is now a superhero origin story. Mulan is now no longer an ordinary girl who proves herself more than capable in a man’s world, she is now a chosen one and once again shows little girls everywhere that you can’t be anything other than ordinary unless you’re born special.
The film also makes some puzzling omissions, such as Mulan’s transformation from girl to soldier in her family home. Where she gazes upon her father’s armour and makes that conscious choice to become what she has been told she cannot be, and she puts the armour on and runs away. Now she simply looks at the armour, then the next time we see her she’s fully suited up and almost at the army. There’s no thought process or decision made, she just looks at it, and then the next time we see her she has turned into a soldier. There was no internal battle between her duty to her family and her duty to her country, there was just a jump cut.
There’s also, in an attempt to make the story more realistic as Disney stated in press announcements, no Mushu or Cricket to keep Mulan company…because magical creatures don’t exist in the real world. Except they evidently kind of do because Mulan is one, plus there’s this evil witch lady who can transform into various types of bird and possess people. So yeah, no magic unless it can be used to make the combat scenes more interesting right?
Speaking of the combat sequences, they’re serviceable. Very reminiscent of Wuxia style films such as The House of Flying Daggers, but it lacks the great cinematography to complement the action that is happening. Whilst many of stunts appear to use wires and do look impressive, the way the camera frames the times it is used can feel a little clunky. There’s also a lot of combat in the film for how much there realistically needed to be. In the animated film there’s one battle around the end of the second act, in this version there’s that same battle (but it’s waaaaay longer) and another where Mulan fights the witch lady, and another one at the end where we regularly cut between armies battling in the city, and Mulan having a showdown with the leader of the Rouran. Considering the frequency of the battles you would think they would have made them a little more interesting to watch.
The film also makes some puzzling omissions, such as Mulan’s transformation from girl to soldier in her family home. Where she gazes upon her father’s armour and makes that conscious choice to become what she has been told she cannot be, and she puts the armour on and runs away. Now she simply looks at the armour, then the next time we see her she’s fully suited up and almost at the army. There’s no thought process or decision made, she just looks at it, and then the next time we see her she has turned into a soldier. There was no internal battle between her duty to her family and her duty to her country, there was just a jump cut.
There’s also, in an attempt to make the story more realistic as Disney stated in press announcements, no Mushu or Cricket to keep Mulan company…because magical creatures don’t exist in the real world. Except they evidently kind of do because Mulan is one, plus there’s this evil witch lady who can transform into various types of bird and possess people. So yeah, no magic unless it can be used to make the combat scenes more interesting right?
Speaking of the combat sequences, they’re serviceable. Very reminiscent of Wuxia style films such as The House of Flying Daggers, but it lacks the great cinematography to complement the action that is happening. Whilst many of stunts appear to use wires and do look impressive, the way the camera frames the times it is used can feel a little clunky. There’s also a lot of combat in the film for how much there realistically needed to be. In the animated film there’s one battle around the end of the second act, in this version there’s that same battle (but it’s waaaaay longer) and another where Mulan fights the witch lady, and another one at the end where we regularly cut between armies battling in the city, and Mulan having a showdown with the leader of the Rouran. Considering the frequency of the battles you would think they would have made them a little more interesting to watch.
Whilst Yifei Liu delivers a strong performance as Mulan, the same cannot be said for the supporting cast. I actually can’t remember any of the male soldiers’ names because they have all their personality stripped from them, personalities that were so vivid in the original. Tzi Ma does do a good performance as Mulan’s father, but the script he’s given to work with doesn’t really give him a lot of room to make the character truly great.
Perhaps the best part about Mulan is the soundtrack. Most of the songs from the animated film did make it into the live action version, despite there being no musical numbers. These renditions sound great and I’d love to hear the soundtrack on its own as it sounds like a lot went into them to make them sound awesome, but they can get lost in the background sometimes depending on when they play.
You can do worse than the live action remake of Mulan, it’s not a bad film as such but it is uninspired and feels too much like a corporate product than a genuine attempt at portraying a people, their culture and values, and giving little girls a hero who represents them. Which is why it’s such a shame because the very film its remaking had all those values in spades. It’s another case of Disney completely missing the mark on what their films are actually about, and a desperate attempt to get people to go to the cinema based on nostalgia alone. What’s worse is it’s working and this trend is not going to end anytime soon.
Perhaps the best part about Mulan is the soundtrack. Most of the songs from the animated film did make it into the live action version, despite there being no musical numbers. These renditions sound great and I’d love to hear the soundtrack on its own as it sounds like a lot went into them to make them sound awesome, but they can get lost in the background sometimes depending on when they play.
You can do worse than the live action remake of Mulan, it’s not a bad film as such but it is uninspired and feels too much like a corporate product than a genuine attempt at portraying a people, their culture and values, and giving little girls a hero who represents them. Which is why it’s such a shame because the very film its remaking had all those values in spades. It’s another case of Disney completely missing the mark on what their films are actually about, and a desperate attempt to get people to go to the cinema based on nostalgia alone. What’s worse is it’s working and this trend is not going to end anytime soon.