Pros:
1.) The set and costume designs look like they fit into the time period. There are plenty of silk clothing for the village people; Chinese armor for the soldiers vs. the Rourans’ leather armor look like they are suitable for battle; the war and training tents are fine enough; the Emperor’s main city looks a little exaggerated, but still looks good; and some of the environments are fitting for a war epic movie. Not much else to comment other than I congratulate the designers.
2.) There are not many, but there are a few scenes which kind of explained things that the original animated version did not, such as Mulan managing her way to the training camp despite not knowing where it is. However, considering that the live-action version has so many changes to the original animated version, this is not saying much. Still, I will give it credit for explaining and showing a few things that I did not think of when I was watching the animated version.
3.) The action scenes have some potential. They do look like they belong to those Chinese epics with the float-like combat. At the very least, it looks like it belongs to a war epic. They do look cool…
Cons:
1.) …As far as I can tell, because I cannot see them clearly sometimes. Why? The editing is a big issue here. For many of these action scenes, there were so many cuts that it is not clear what is happening. In certain shots, they only last about a frame or two for some odd reason. The movie had several months before release due to the COVD-19 quarantine, and they did not even bother to polish the editing in these fight scenes. The worst thing I can say about it is that I might have to take back the pro about the action scenes being potentially good, because if the editing was polished, it may show that these actors cannot fight.
2.) Another big issue is the pacing and the writing; I understand they are going for a more realistic take on the Mulan story, so no Mushu or ancestral spirits (even though it has a magical witch and an invisible phoenix), but the movie should have learn to take its sweet time to explore the characters and plot points without rushing through them so quickly. As a result, there is a lack of urgency most of the time (at one point, Mulan is supposed to go up on a mountain where the Rourans are without being detected, and it immediately cuts to her being there already), and even certain scenes where characters explain how they feel should have been best if it was shown what they are feeling like in the animated version. One even bigger issue is that other than Hua Mulan and Hua Zhou, I do not remember any of the characters’ names; I cannot pinpoint which is Li Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po because they are barely explored. If I barely know who they are, I will not even care if anything happens to them. In any case, at least Mulan is interesting, right?
3.) Unfortunately, Mulan could not be any less interesting if she tried. First off, her performance by Liu Yifei was dry and unconvincing; it is rare that she expresses anything other than concern and serious. She could not be any less boring, except in this live-action remake, she has superpowers, or chi as they call it. The reason that she struggles at times is because she is holding back her powers, but when she decides to use her power to the fullest, she is pretty much invincible (watch the mountain fight scene, and you will see what I mean).
Whereas the animated version Mulan proved that she can go through her struggles and issues, this live-action version can defeat them easily if she tried. If the main character can easily resolve her conflicts, the audience will not find her interesting.
Overall:
About time I get to another movie review since the quarantine, but I digress. The 1998 animated Mulan film is one my favorite films when I was a child, and still is to this day. As per usual, when I heard that a live-action remake of Mulan was announced, I was nervous especially since almost all of the live-action Disney remakes could not compare to the original animated versions. However, this is the only one I was excited for, because I can imagine it being similar to many Chinese epic films, and I hoped it was executed like that. Now that it is released on Disney+ on Premiere Access, what do I think of it? If my pros and cons did not give any hints, this GIF below will:
Disney has disappointed me again, but this is insultingly so, because there was so much potential for it. It could have been either showing the actual historical version of the Mulan character with some Disney flair, or a realistic interpretation of Mulan. They went for the realistic interpretation…poorly. It is sad to say that an animated Mulan with Mushu and a cricket is more realistic and interesting than the live-action Mulan with superpowers. Just watch the animated Mulan; this live-action version will never bring honor to us all.
3/10
benzeyeview 