Mulan (2020)

Directed by Niki Caro

Review written by Jazmine Deng

Okay, I’m going to be honest. When I first watched this film, I was pretty plainly impressed by it, even to the point of getting teary. I thought, “Hey, Disney didn’t do too bad.” However, there are a few things to account for that. Firstly, when I initially watched this film, it was with my Chinese relatives and grandparents, and seeing them connect to, and even be in context with this film that is, first and foremost, very Westernised (a Disney production), made me feel closer to them and the movie itself allowed us to be with and sit with one another, something I don’t experience all that often (I am not fluent in Chinese so I can’t carry out long conversations with them, so sitting with each other felt pretty special). I enjoyed that we got to react together, and be drawn into a pretty unoriginal, yet cinematic, high-production film and see Asian faces on the screen. And be like, “Huh, it’s a Chinese story produced by a Western Company, that’s pretty woke they’re being. Ha ha ha.” A few days later I watched it again properly without the context of my Asian relatives beside me, and realised just how EMPTY the film was…when you look at the film by itself, it’s already shit because no Chinese (let alone Asian) voices are telling this story. I mean, it’s a good film if your standards are average…but we are trying to get deeper here. So, I reckon this is all just a money issue. All of Disney’s previous live-action remakes WERE AND ARE TOTAL GARBAGE. I cringe. I am disgusted. I am not impressed at all. All those live-action remakes, Mulan included, were attempts to pull at our heartstrings at the nostalgia of past Disney animated films, and simply grab for themselves disgustingly larger amounts of money. Money WE GIVE THEM. And for what? A crappy, terribly congested load of garbage ‘retelling’ the story of Mulan, with the screenplay written by four EUROPEAN writers? What the hell were they thinking? Don’t watch it. Don’t buy it. My family literally pirated it. Disney doesn’t get our money.

I was first enticed by this film for the very surface level basic reasons,
which I’m sure Disney was taunting us with: Chinese character. Chinese
girl. Chinese girl character ‘learning her place.’ Chinese girl character
trying to be strong. Chinese girl character is physically strong and tries
to be honest and a decent person. All these tropes, I ‘think’ I relate to,
just because I am a Chinese girl. But I am wrong. I relate just as much
as you do (not a whole lot, as the film takes an age-old poem and turns
it into something basic). This film doesn’t allow for any other exploration
or deconstruction of Mulan and her discipline in training, or her femininity
as her strength. It is bleak and it is bland. The whole story is told, but
with no time and room for personality, attention to detail or true insights
into Chinese culture. Disney tells us what is Chinese from a Western
lens, using the word Qi like it doesn’t mean more than just talent, and
quoting The Ballad of Mulan with no consideration for its true meaning.
It was just fan service. It is virtue signalling. Chinese cultural terms were
referenced but with no effort into expanding on them further, or what they
really meant or mean for the characters.

In the live-action remake, as opposed to the original animated film,
Mulan is now naturally an extremely talented fighter and prodigy. This
strips away the relatability we could have had with her, and automatically
portrays her as a Mary Sue who doesn’t seem to have any issues or
problems she must overcome, as opposed to the animated series where
she starts off as an amateur fighter and an awkward person in general.
In this version, her physical strength and talent on the battlefield are
showcased at the forefront, and that is what makes her a good fighter
and equal to the men. Disney is showing that only physical strength makes women powerful. In the animated film (please watch it again),
they showcase her femininity and problem-solving skills, which is what
Mulan uses to defeat the enemy. None of that is done in the live-action
film (except the tiniest amount). In fact, in the film it shows her gender
as a woman as a hindrance even. She doesn’t acknowledge her
femininity or be proud of it at all.

There are many things presented in the film that were just ‘for funsies’
but literally added no narrative structure or story-line to the film. Their
inclusion definitely made the film worse: the younger sister did nothing
and just got married at the end, adding to the idea that if you are a
woman who doesn’t have much skill, you should just follow the patriarchy
and get married. The freaking phoenix did nothing but just fly around all
pretty. The reference to the phoenix was also an Egyptian one they used,
instead of Chinese. All the army friends had no personality and not much
time at all taken to develop their friendship and trust with Mulan. They
stayed aggressive throughout the film, not developing or learning
anything. The witch bird lady was also a cliche and it didn’t make sense
why she worked with Bori Khan when she was so much more powerful
than him. It was a pity and shallow redemption arc.

Overall the whole thing was cheesy and cliche to the point of disbelief. I
feel as though, if you show this to children, especially children who are
not familiar with Chinese stories, it would be terribly wrong. I feel it would
be owed to just allow people to learn about Chinese stories from Chinese
writers and filmmakers. At least in the animated version of Mulan from
1998, there was one female Asian writer…

Verdict: 2/5

Mulan is currently available to stream on Disney+ for $34.99, and will be available free to all Disney+ subscribers on 4th December 2020.