PLOT: The headstrong Mulan (Liu Yifei) takes her father’s place in battle when the Imperial Army is summoned by the emperor (Jet Li) to fight the forces of an evil warlord (Jason Scott Lee).
REVIEW: Back in the “before” times, people were pretty excited to get a look at Disney’s big-budget remake of their animated classic Mulan. The film had already had it’s US premiere when theatres were forced to close down due to Coronavirus, shelving the film indefinitely. After a summer of doing the release date tango, Disney’s made what many have seen as an inevitable decision – they’ve released the film to Disney Plus – but at a premium. If you want to see the 200 million dollar blockbuster, you’ll have to pay 29.99 for premium access, with the film reportedly set for a regular Disney Plus release in December, just in time for the holidays. So is the film worth 30 bucks?
First, let’s take a step back. Mulan is unique among the recent spate of live-action Disney remakes. With all due respect to the cartoon, the big-budget, PG-13 feature is a different beast. Gone are the songs, as well as the talking dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy in the original. Instead, this is a sprawling adventure epic that seems more influenced by the classic Chinese Wu Xia genre than Disney Animation, albeit given a thoroughly western spin. Making her return to Disney after helming their underrated Kevin Costner sports drama, McFarland, USA, director Niki Caro works with her biggest budget to date, and sure enough, has made an entertaining tentpole for the whole family. Gorgeously shot, with some of the most beautiful cinematography in recent memory courtesy of DP Mandy Walker, Mulan pays tribute to the classics of Chinese cinema, particularly the films of King Hu. His famous leading lady Cheng Pei Pei, of COME DRINK WITH ME, has an amusing cameo as the village matchmaker who disapproves of Mulan’s headstrong nature. This is a wink to those familiar with the genre as fifty years ago, Cheng pretty much WAS Mulan.
Starring Liu Yifei, Disney’s version of the story certainly does reinvent the character for a modern era, with Yifei possessing a lot of poise and charisma in her first, weighty English language role. She handles the dialogue extremely well, better than a lot of other Mainland actresses working in Hollywood, and seems well-positioned to be a crossover star, with her reportedly having done something like 90% of Mulan’s stunts herself – which are impressive.
The basic story is similar to the cartoon, which itself was based on the Chinese folklore tale The Ballad of Mulan. Here, Mulan, who drives everyone in her village crazy for her refusal to bow to custom, takes her aged father’s place in the Imperial army when they go to war against a vicious warlord, Bori Khan, played by Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story’s Jason Scott Lee. He wants to kill the emperor, played by none other than Jet Li (in a mostly non-fighting role). He’s helped by a witch played by Gong Li, who was sent into exile due to, like Mulan, refusing to bow to a patriarchal society. The cast is great, with The Farewell’s Tzi Ma likable as Mulan’s nice guy dad, although Rosalind Chao has a pretty one-note part as her tsk-tsk-ing mom. This is a role that could have used a little weight.
Jason Scott Lee makes for a hiss-worthy villain, while Gong Li is sympathetic as the not-so-evil witch who helps him in his quest. Li is mostly sidelined here, but former opponent Donnie Yen has a nice supporting part as a general in the imperial army who acts as a mentor to young Mulan while she poses as a male soldier, with some comic relief courtesy of his wish that Mulan, who he thinks is a man, will come back to his village to marry his daughter. He remains a sympathetic character throughout and gets in on the action more than Li. Too bad that Mulan’s love interest, played by Yoson An is given virtually nothing to do. You’ll find yourself much more invested in Mulan’s relationship with Yen than her relationship with An.
For the most part, this is a well-done adventure film, although it does lack the polish an authentically Asian film might have provided, with the editing on the fights having been done in the western style. As good of a warrior as Mulan is, she never really gets an amazing mano-a-mano fight, with her showdown with Bori Khan a particular let-down. This should have been a showstopper, but Caro seems more focuses on the meaning behind the tale than the action. Whatever the case, the fights could have used a little work, especially when compared to virtually any other movie co-stars Jet Li and Donnie Yen have appeared in.
In the end, MULAN is a western take on the Wu Xia genre, although I imagine kids won’t care too much, and will no doubt be thrilled by this fast-moving adaptation. So is it worth 30 bucks? It’s hard to say. If you have kids, the fact is, they’ve been under-served by new releases during quarantine, so it’s worth it just to give them a nice treat. More grown-up fans might want to wait until the general Disney _ release, but considering the budget, one can’t blame Disney for the track they’ve taken, at least they’re upfront about when it’ll be released without the premium attached to it. When has a night out at the movies cost you less than thirty bucks anyway?