In the 90’s, Walt Disney Animation Studios experienced the
creative resurgence that they desperately needed after an incredibly rough
stretch in the 80’s where the studio was nearly shuttered completely.
Officially known as the ‘Disney Renaissance’, this era saw the release of many
of the studio’s most beloved and critically acclaimed works such as The
Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. However,
some might argue that, commercially speaking, the Disney Renaissance reached
its peak in 1994 with The Lion King, which stood as the studio’s
highest-grossing film for nearly two decades until Frozen overtook its
top spot in 2013. While the films that were released after that (up until
1999’s Tarzan, for the record) weren’t necessarily commercial
duds, none of them really managed to match the box-office success of the era’s
initial outings. Nevertheless, these films have managed to maintain a genuinely
positive reputation amongst those who grew up with them, and one of the most
popular of that bunch is 1998’s Mulan. Directed by the duo of veteran
Disney animators Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, the film was inspired by the
legendary Chinese ballad that told the story of Hua Mulan, a young woman who
went against tradition to take her father’s place in the Imperial army. Upon
its release, the film grossed over $304 million worldwide and was one of the
better-received outings of Disney’s post-1994 Renaissance lineup, and now it’s
become the latest installment of Disney’s current trend of live-action remakes
of their animated classics with a big-budget epic directed by Niki Caro (2002’s
Whale Rider, 2017’s The Zookeeper’s Wife). However, just like
many other 2020 releases, Mulan became yet another unfortunate victim of
the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally set to release back
in March, the film was pushed back twice before it was decided to have the film
be released on Disney+, but unlike other films that were turned into Disney+
releases, Mulan was made a premium offering with users having to pay a
$30 fee to watch it. And while I’m going to save my thoughts on this
development for the end of today’s review, what I can say right now is that the
new Mulan manages to be one of the best live-action Disney remakes yet
largely because of its willingness to be different.
In a peaceful little village in the heart of China, a young
woman named Hua Mulan (Yifei Liu) finds herself struggling to adhere to the
expectations that are set upon her by long-standing traditions where the only
way for her to bring honor to her family is through an arraigned marriage.
However, this all changes when China finds itself under attack by invaders from
the North; specifically, a group of warriors known as the Rourans led by Bori
Khan (Jason Scott Lee), who seeks vengeance against the Emperor of China (Jet
Li) for killing his father, and Xianniang (Gong Li), a powerful shape-shifting
sorceress. In response to this development, the Emperor sends out an official
decree that one man from every family must join the Imperial Army to combat this
threat, and since Mulan doesn’t have any brothers, her father Hua Zhou (Tzi
Ma), a highly respected veteran of the Imperial Army, promptly volunteers to
re-enlist. Realizing, however, that her father is in no condition to fight,
Mulan boldly decides to take her father’s place in the army and disguises
herself as his ‘son’, Hua Jun, so that she can save him from an inevitable
death. Despite this, though, Mulan now finds herself having to consistently hide
her real identity as a woman from everyone she comes across, from her superior
Commander Tung (Donnie Yen) to her fellow soldiers such as Chen Honghui (Yoson
An). If her secret is ever revealed, not only would she bring dishonor upon her
entire family, but the strict laws of her country could also potentially result
in the worst possible fate of all… death.
Over the past few years, much has been said about how many
of the recent live-action Disney remakes usually don’t tend to make a lot of
changes to the stories of their animated counterparts. And while I’ve certainly
gone on record stating that this doesn’t bother me in the slightest when it
comes to what I think about them, it goes without saying that it’s one of the
main reasons why they have been so controversial amongst animation fans, with
many arguing that they rarely add anything new to their iconic stories. But
when it comes to Mulan, this is one of the rare cases where it does make
a considerable effort to make some major changes so that it can’t just be
accused of being a clone of its animated predecessor. Namely, in this instance,
Mulan opts to be a more serious action film rather than the traditionally
family-friendly Disney musical that the animated film was. Apart from Christina
Aguilera’s re-recorded cover of ‘Reflection’ and a new song of hers, ‘Loyal Brave
True’ (both of which are played during the credits), none of the songs by
Matthew Wilder and David Zippel appear in the film. Instead, they’re only
alluded to in referential dialogue and parts of Harry Gregson-Williams’ score.
The film also notably excludes the character of Mulan’s ancestral sidekick,
Mushu the dragon, in favor of a different ancestral guardian, a phoenix, that
occasionally comes to Mulan’s aid. But despite the negative reactions that
these changes have garnered from fans of the original (more on that later…),
this film more than delivers on its promise of being an epic female-driven
action flick. It boasts incredibly gorgeous cinematography thanks to
cinematographer Mandy Walker, which naturally paves the way for a whole bunch
of visually stunning and amazingly choreographed action sequences. And while
the film probably could’ve benefitted from a bit more levity in certain places,
the fact that its largely serious tone was clearly intentional on director Niki
Caro’s part to contrast with the light-hearted atmosphere of the animated film
means that it’s ultimately not too big of an issue.
The film also deserves quite a lot of credit for properly
maintaining an ethnically accurate cast, especially since fans were quite vocal
about how they didn’t want it to be a case of studio whitewashing. Thankfully,
this isn’t one of those situations, and as a result, the film features an
excellent cast headlined by Yifei Liu, who does a phenomenal job in the title
role of Mulan. Not only does Yifei prove to be an indisputable badass when it
comes to the action sequences, but she also does a wonderful job in capturing
the endearing nature of Mulan’s emotional journey thanks in large part to her strong
charisma. She’s then backed by an equally terrific supporting cast, who all do
wonderful jobs whether they’re one of the main characters or they’re only in a
few select scenes. This includes everyone from well-respected stars such as
Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, Jet Li as the Emperor, and Tzi Ma as Mulan’s
father to incredibly promising up-and-comers like Yoson An as Chen, who
basically serves as the live-action equivalent of Mulan’s love interest from
the animated film, Captain Li Shang. That said, though, the film doesn’t really
go too far when it comes to developing a potential romance between the two
which, given the mixed reactions that some critics had towards the romance
between Mulan and Shang in the original, may have been for the best. Finally,
there are this film’s villains, and whereas Hun leader Shan Yu was far from
being one of the best villains to come from an animated Disney film, the
live-action Mulan ends up boasting a far superior pair of antagonists.
Jason Scott Lee brings the right amount of fierceness to the role of Bori Khan,
but at the end of the day, the biggest standout of the bunch is Gong Li as Xianniang
the witch. Bringing in a new female character into the story is easily one of
the remake’s best updates as Xianniang serves as a perfect foil to Mulan,
especially since it’s established that she’s also experienced a lot of gender
discrimination, namely from Bori Khan. And without spoiling anything, this
ultimately paves the way for her having a unique and solidly handled conclusion
to her overall character arc, thus making her much more than just a traditional
magically powered villainess.
As has been the case with all these recent Disney remakes,
the live-action Mulan has faced its fair share of controversy; however,
you may be surprised to learn that, in this instance, it wasn’t really due to
the whole ‘is it really necessary’ debate that is usually the case with these
films. Aside from one rather scandalous political controversy that I won’t be
getting into here, much of the backlash towards this film… has been due to all
the things from the original animated film that it left out. Yes, it seems as
if the biggest issue that many have had with this film… is the fact that it
doesn’t feature Mushu, any of the original’s songs, or a proper live-action
equivalent of Mulan’s love interest Shang. And yet, I find all this to be
incredibly ironic since I’m 100% certain that those who have criticized the new
Mulan for all its changes were most likely the same people who were
critical of the remakes of The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast for
not making a lot of significant changes to their source material.
In other words, as much as I’ve gone on record stating that I’m not bothered by
all these recent Disney remakes adhering closely to the key aspects of their
animated counterparts, I’m legitimately surprised that Mulan isn’t
getting a lot more credit for the fact that it dared to do things a
little differently. And because of that, it’s easily one of the best films yet
to come from this recent batch of remakes. Under the excellent direction of
Niki Caro, the live-action Mulan is a gorgeously shot action-packed epic
that’s fully bolstered by an outstanding lead performance by Yifei Liu in the
title role. And while it doesn’t try to be a direct adaptation of its animated
counterpart, there are still plenty of great nods to what many consider to be
one of the most underrated installments of the Disney Renaissance.
But now it’s time for me to address the elephant in the room
that is this film’s status as a ‘Premier Access’ release on Disney+. The $30
price tag that this film is currently going for has been a topic of
considerable debate online, with many feeling that it’s way too much for just
one single film. And to be fair, I completely understand why some people feel
that way, especially given everything that’s going on in the world right now
that has thoroughly affected tons of folks on a financial level. $30 IS a
hefty price to watch one film, which is the reason why I admittedly haven’t
watched a lot of the similarly priced ‘Theater at Home’ films that have been
released On-Demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic apart from Scoob and,
sometime in the next few days, a certain highly-anticipated threequel. However,
while it’s quite arguably too much for a single person, I’d say that this price
is a lot more reasonable if at least one more person is watching it with you to
balance it all out. Plus, unlike all those other recent On-Demand releases, the
film will stay in your Disney+ library if you purchase it and isn’t just a
rental that expires after a certain time. Now for the record, if that price is
still too much for you, the film will become free to all Disney+ users sometime
in December. However, I’m going to go out on a limb and strongly suggest that
you should buy it now if you can. Not only is it a legitimately terrific film,
but it’s also a female-led, female-directed big-budget epic that made a truly
admirable effort to be an ethnically-accurate adaptation of its source material
and a Disney remake that wasn’t just a straight-forward retelling of its
animated counterpart. And given everything that’s been happening recently and
how it has left a serious impact on the industry, I’d argue that a film like
this deserves all the support that it can possibly get.
Rating: 5/5!
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