Mulan (2020) Review

Out of all the Disney live-action remakes that have been released so far, this one was my most anticipated based on the trailers. However, that hype started to diminish when controversies began to arise, and was gone by the time I finished watching the film. A remake that had potential to improve on the original turned out to be a film that lacked memorable characters and storytelling without much depth.

All of the characters are forgettable, even if most of the blame is placed on the bad directing and writing. Mulan herself is particularly bland with no genuine character development, as Yifei Liu showcases little to no emotion in her performance. The closest effort of emotional impact is the relationship between her and fellow soldier Chen Honghui, which has some development but lacks emotional weight. The other actors try their best but are given nothing to work with and end up as wasted potential, especially with the amount of effort that went into casting famous Chinese actors. Characters such as Mulan’s sister and Xianniang (the evil witch) are pointless, with the latter having little time to shine and doing a plot twist that makes no sense. While the original “Mulan” had a problem with its villain (Shan Yu) being forgettable outside of his design and offscreen exploits, the remake’s villain (Böri Khan) is no better.

The mystical elements of the film also feel pointless, and don’t mesh in well with the universe of the film. The use of “chi” is similar to the Force in the Star Wars universe, however the film doesn’t make it developed enough to be interesting nor mysterious enough to create a sense of curiosity. Despite some level of explanation, the Phoenix is pointless and doesn’t serve much of a purpose outside of pseudo-motivation for Mulan at certain points. And it really feels pointless with the “loyal, brave, true” philosophy also established and serving more of a purpose in Mulan’s need to embrace her chi in order to become a formidable warrior.

For a story that is meant to showcase female empowerment through women being as capable as men, it doesn’t place enough emphasis on the conflict of women being subjected to societal roles. And with the added emphasis of loyalty to the Emperor and the normality of arranged marriages after what Mulan accomplished goes against any attempts at breaking gender norms. The attempts at recreating certain key moments from the original are done poorly and lessens the impact of Mulan’s devotion to her family and the gruesome reality of war. The lack of emotion and a heavy reliance on dialogue hampers the concept of “dishonor” as all acts of this nature in the film don’t have a lasting impact.

One positive aspect, and being the best example out of all the remakes, is the visuals and the use of colors. While the other remakes sacrificed the rich colors of classic animated Disney films for “realism”, this film finds a way to create a sense of realism while having a variety of colors to create a visual experience. The fighting scenes were serviceable with nice choreography along with inspiration from wuxia films, but I expected more of them due to the PG-13 rating. However, there are certain instances that felt over-the-top (in a hilariously bad way) and out of place, particularly with Mulan’s incident with the matchmaker and the climax. There are also a couple of scenes that are genuinely good such as Mulan’s conversation with her father about the concept of “loyal, brave, true” and Mulan’s soldier comrades backing her up as she convinces them of Böri Khan’s survival and plan to take out the Emperor.

Overall, this remake with potential was botched with bland and pointless characters, despite making more of an effort in the visuals for an experience that isn’t entirely boring. The mystic elements feel tacked on without purpose and hurts even more when taking into account all of the controversies it faced. While not the worst Disney remake, it’s not worth watching on its own merits.

SCORE: 4/10