Mulan (2020)
“Yes…I will bring honor to us all.” – Mulan
Mulan (2020)
Directed by: Niki Caro
Written by: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Silver, Elizabeth Martin
Starring: Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Li Gong, Jet Li, Jason Scott Lee
The 2020 release of Mulan follows the success of live-action remakes of old Disney classics Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Jungle Book in the past decade. However, whilst they received mostly critical acclaim, and were almost scene-for-scene replicas of their cartoon equivalents, Mulan deviated from it’s original story and was embroiled in controversy upon release.
Before giving an overview of the film, it’s worth exploring the whole ‘Disney remakes all it’s old movies’ trope. While Disney decided to take over the world and bought all the Intellectual Property in Hollywood (Pixar, Marvel, Fox, National Geographic), they also discovered that they could make bucket loads of cash just remaking their own films frame-by-frame. Their traditional cartoons were recast with famous actors, with stunning set-pieces, CGI, and containing their famous musical numbers. This proved to be a winning formula, with these movies receiving positive reviews and being box-office smash hits.
However, Disney decided to take a risk with Mulan and deviate from this successful blueprint. The musical numbers (which honestly were one of the main reasons the cartoon is so fun) were removed, a number of the key characters were removed (no Mushu!) and the story was tweaked to be more in keeping with the traditional Chinese ballad the film is based on. This version of Mulan is more of an action movie, with a nod to traditional oriental martial arts films, and removal of any semblance of comedy from the cartoon. It’s a completely different film.
In short, the film focuses on Mulan (Liu), a young Chinese maiden. When Bori Khan (Lee) and his Rouran warriors decide to invade Imperial China, the Emperor (Li) demands that one man from every family must join the Imperial army. Mulan disguises herself as a male warrior and joins the army in order to save her elderly father, who would certainly die in battle. The film follows her journey training in combat, befriending fellow soldiers, and then battling the Rouran invaders, all the while trying to disguise her deception.
This movie was embroiled in controversy prior to release, as production and casting faced intense scrutiny from both Western and Asian audiences. Careful not to fall into the trap of ‘whitewashing’, Disney ensured that a Chinese actress would portray the lead role, with Yifei Liu selected out of 1000 candidates considered across five contents. This, and the selection of a strong Chinese supporting cast, was met with strong support. However, when Liu posted a photo seemingly supporting police brutality related to the Hong Kong protests, the hashtag #BoycottMulan started trending worldwide (have a look at any Disney+ posts about Mulan, you’ll still be able to find that hashtag), with non-Chinese audiences lashing out at her stance. She then caused even more backlash amongst Chinese citizens when self-identifying as ‘Asian’ rather than ‘Chinese’ in an interview with Vanity Fair, with Chinese social media criticising her for dismissing her cultural roots. So basically the title-lead was ‘cancelled’ on social media in the lead-up to this highly anticipated film, creating a marketing nightmare for Disney. The original screenplay was also re-written during production, as the writers struggled to address the expectations of both Western and Chinese audiences. As such there were four writing credits on the screenplay. The final controversy emerged during release, as COVID led Disney to release the film on its streaming platform Disney+. However, instead of just releasing it, they claimed it would cost a ridiculous $40 extra (on top of the subscription fee) to watch it. For a company that just made a squillion dollars on the Marvel movies over the last few years, this was heavily criticised by even the most loyal Disney fans.
Now to the movie itself. What’s the verdict? Well, the set pieces are impressive. That’s all I can really say. I really like the traditional cartoon, and would probably have it top 5 in my all-time Disney rankings. It’s funny, has some absolute bangers throughout, and also includes the action sequences this version tries to emphasise. The new movie is just very messy (probably a by-product of four co-writers), and the character changes are baffling. There’s now a witch who can shape-shift as one of the villains, Mulan has a sister for no reason whatsoever, her love interest isn’t her immediate commander in the army, the list goes on. There also isn’t really much character development in the script. Yes, it does explore the cultural expectations on the surface, with lots of discussions about honour, and ‘doing what is best for ones family’. It does also emphasise that traditional gender roles are ridiculous, and it’s cool to have a Disney princess who bucks these stereotypes and beats the bad guys up. However, no one really gets much of a backstory. The villains are just interchangeable with any other bad character (the witch in particular makes no sense - why are you working for Bori Khan? Just kill him and rule the empire yourself), and the characters Mulan meets in the army have zero depth. I couldn’t tell you any of their names or anything about them, and I watched the movie two hours ago.
The one positive in the movie is the action set pieces. Filmed in New Zealand, the backdrops to all the fight-scenes are beautiful, and it’s great that the martial arts is filmed in the wuxia format, similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (it’s borderline fantasy with people running up walls and jumping from building to building). However, there isn’t enough action, and it isn’t good enough to save the movie.
I liked the other live-action remakes of the Disney classics, but that’s undoubtedly because of the nostalgia associated with the stories and musical pieces. If you decide to watch this, know that it’s not a ‘Disney’ movie in the traditional sense. It’s an action movie with a massive budget but no real substance. Possibly something to watch when scrolling through Instagram or something, but honestly you can skip this and go do something better with your time.
Rating: 5/10