By Kathleen Huynh
Something old, something new, and sadly, no Mushu. Premier access to “Mulan” (2020) became available on Disney+ for $29.99 on September 4, 2020. The film will be free to Disney+ subscribers in December.
The live-action remake was highly anticipated after multiple release date postponements. The eradication of musical numbers and the lovable character Mushu came as a shock to many “Mulan” fanatics. Many fans were turned off by these decisions, but the filmmakers defended their moves, claiming that they wanted to have a more serious and accurate depiction of Mulan without the gimmicks. After watching “Mulan” (2020), I believe that the musical numbers in the original served a purpose. The songs served as segues into new scenes, and without them, the live-action lacked cohesion and was clunky from one scene to the next.
There are several differences between the animated version from 1998 and this live-action remake.. Minor deviations include Mulan having a little sister and not a grandma. One of the more prominent differences was the addition of a new character, the antagonist Xian Lang. The addition of this shape-shifting witch provided an interesting twist to the plot and movie. She’s probably the most exciting character in the entire movie. The rest of the cast was rather dull. Their acting was unremarkable; there weren’t any standout performances, and honestly, I can’t remember what any of them said.
At its core, “Mulan” (2020) is an action movie. The only exciting and memorable parts of the movie were the fight sequences. However, the choreography was a bit over the top and clearly computer-generated. A good fight sequence straddles the line between the possible and impossible in regards to human skill, but the choreography in “Mulan” was overdone to the point where it was not as impressive because it was obviously fake.
This review would not be complete without addressing the controversies surrounding the film. Since 2019, there have been calls to boycott “Mulan” (2020) after the lead actress, Liu Yifei, declared her support for the Hong Kong Police and their brutality against pro-democracy protesters. Even more egregious, the movie was filmed in Xinjiang, the region in China where masses of Uighur Muslims have been put into internment camps and are being grossly abused. In the ending credits, the filmmakers explicitly thank government entities in Xinjiang. Disney’s partnership with the Chinese government has brought the company much criticism and accusations of being complicit in China’s abuse of Uighur Muslims. With the many atrocities that taint the film, there has been an international effort to boycott the film and a call for consumers to reevaluate whether or not they too are supporting the largest mass of detention since the Holocaust if they watch the film.
Given the movie’s problematic political involvement and the fact that it’s boring, I would not recommend the live-action “Mulan” to anyone—not even to my worst enemies.
