Review 576: Mulan (2020)

The original tale dates back centuries and the original animated classic is loved by many...   and will probably be moreso than this live action remake that tries to be more serious and epic but misses the magic of its animated counterpart.

When the Emperor of China (Jet Li) issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Rouran invaders, led by Bori Kahn (Jason Scott Lee),

Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei), the eldest daughter of honored warrior, Hua Zhou (Tzi Ma), steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation…and a proud father.

Whilst the plot remains faithful to the basic skeleton of the original Mulan story, this film does away with the songs and muscal numbers as well as the comic relief dragon Mushu (yes I miss him to). This is very much a straight up wuxia inspired epic adventure than a musical adventure.

 

The message at the heart of Mulan seems to be that "You shouldn't hide your inner beauty. You shouldn't hide who you are. You shouldn't hide your talents and you shouldn't conform to what society wants you to be." In short "Be yourself" 

 

I never felt the threat of the Rouran Army, they

Mulan is a film that's directed with a lot of flair and passion by Niki Caro but somehow still misses the mark. The action scenes are passable at best and sleep inducingly dull and devoid of tension at worst.

The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is rousing and captures the oriental influences suitable for the film.

The film does have a bright spot in the form of Christina Aguilera coming back to record two songs for the films soundtracks. Hearing her sing a new rendition of "Reflection" and the new song "Loyal Brave True" was like hearing what heaven sounds like.

Let's face it, a Live Action Disney film with an all Asian cast is never going to be 100% realistic. It's one of those things that you just have to take with a pinch of salt.

As I said before, the absence of Mushu is greatly felt, not mearly because they removed a fantastic comic relief character but mainly because they removed someone who acted as a brilliant confidant and foil to our titular heroine.

 

It never moved me the way the original 1998 Animated classic or recent Live Action Disney remakes such as Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016) or Beauty and the Beast (2017) did.

Liu Yifei makes an adequate Mulan but doesn’t quite come into her a movie star. I missed the spunk, the confidence, the feisty independence and intelligence of Ming Na-Wen. Animated Mulan was someone who wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
The writers give her no depth or no meaningful relationships to work with. On that note, some of the changes they made to Mulan are questionable and headscratching to say the least.

Early in the film, it's established that Mulan has been born with the ability to channel Chi and she's been told that she needs to hide that from the world. The film firmly establishes her as someone with a lot of special abilities. But in doing so they've created a less compelling and relatable character, who doesn't actually need to try hard and prove her abilities since she's equal to her comrades and because of that pent up power, she became less interesting to watch as result and it underminded the message.

 

Donnie Yen  playing Commander Tung, the high ranking leader of the Imperial Army and Mulan's mentor. Yen effectively captures the authoritative demenor that role requires and thanks to his background as a mixed martial artist and choreographer, he has the right phsicallity for the role.  

 
Despite Jason Scott Lee bringing the right amount of menace, Bori Kahn comes across as an incredibly lacklustre villain. Kahn had the right, if cliched, foundation; wanting revenge against the Emperor for killing his father. But the script never worked to develop Kahn beyond that initial setup. He only appeared in a handful of scenes and generally came across as a one-note character.

 

Xian Lang is meant to be a darker mirror image of Mulan. She was discriminated, exiled, abandon for going against society norms. Subconciously, we don't care if Xian Lang is redeemed because that goal represents a completely different character that we've never seen before.

Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao & Jet Li round out the cast in smaller, cameo-style roles, playing Mulan's parents and the Emperor of China. Regretably the family dynamic between Mulan and her family is largly unexplored making the her descision to leave them to join the army feel less impactful and while Ma and Chao are competent they're wind up feeling generally interchangeable

 

2/5.

 

The Anonymous Critic.