Mulan (2020) post

I've finally seen Disney's live action 'Mulan'.

Some parts of it are done quite well - like the action and stunt work, and Mulan's "chi", meaning her potential - but other parts are done so wrong that I want to scream. Erasing Mulan's conflict with her gender identity was a mistake (don't want to be TOO progressive for the homophobic and transphobic Chinese market! Even in a film all about them! I should have expected it). Erasing the full extent of her identity crisis, and, you know, her standing up for herself and expressing herself more overtly so that the audience can connect with her bold personality, was also a mistake. What they did with the OTHER major female character at the end was a mistake. Her fate and how she was treated particularly annoyed me.

I understand doing a serious take on the legend, so there are no musical numbers that would distract and jar the tone greatly. But the songs help to solidify the characters' personalities and inner conflicts in the original Disney film; the live action version gives us not much content to replace the amazing songs; to make us care about the characters. The charm and vibrancy are gone.

At least the filmmakers tried to tell an original story, or differ considerably from the original without being lazy and copying it beat-for-beat, ad nauseum, so you wonder why it had to exist in the first place. There being no apparent and unnecessary romance plot on the side is appreciated too. 

'Mulan' is one of the less soulless cash grab Disney remakes, but that's not significant praise.

I can say with positive conviction that the 1998 Disney animated classic is more feminist and progressive - more genderfluid! - than the modern remake. It is certainly more entertaining. Give Mulan a voice! and more growth and time to explore her character!

Endnote: removing the grandmother character from the film was another mistake. She was awesome in the original.