Because of this, Mulan 2020 kept piquing my interest. I was already invested into the concept of the film: the original 1998 film is a classic, and while this one was certainly different, I thought the trailer looked really good. In any event, when the time finally came for its release, I couldnβt wait to take a look.
HONORING THE PAST
2020βs Mulan is a testament to Disneyβs in-house production teamsβ ability to make only one kind of film anymore: the high-budget, low-effort blockbuster. This is really all you can find looking back at their previous releases. From shot-for-shot live action remakes of their animated successes, to 22 superhero stories that they know will draw an audience just because of the Marvel name. They know that if the poster says βDisneyβ on it, people will buy it, and because of that, they really donβt have to try.
So can you tell I wasnβt the biggest fan of Mulan 2020?
I will give them this: in our home theater, we have a very good screen, and this movie was a great way to showcase that. Most of the recent releases on Disney+ are presented in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision, so even a shot of a bug crawling on the ground looks fantastic.Β
BE TRUE
I was very interested in this as soon as this was announced. Yes, the soundtrack to the 1998 version is good, but it only has four songs anyway, so I wouldnβt miss them (sidenote, if you like the soundtrack of the original, do yourself a favor and research how much of a mess it apparently was to make). And while Mushu is a fun character, Iβm always in favor of changing that type of thing for realism – Iβm a big fan of how it was done in Aladdin on Broadway to change the monkey sidekick into three human friends of Aladdin.
However, maybe the biggest reason I was looking forward to a new take on the plot, was following the recent Lion King movie – a full blown shot-for-shot remake of the original with almost nothing added and almost nothing removed. A new telling of the story means that itβs more likely to justify its purpose as a live action remake, something that none of them have been able to do thus far.
Ultimately, this was not the result. The movie relies very heavily on its audienceβs pre-existing knowledge of the original film, despite being so starkly and, honestly, harshly different from it. Itβs loaded with visual references to the original. Something will happen, and the film will pause for a beat, and wait for the audience to say βHey, thatβs the thing from the original movie, I remember that!β Or the soundtrack, which, while not including the lyricized songs from the original, plays the instrumentals of them in emotional moments, so you again say βAww, I remember that.β
I say it comes off as harsh because while the movie devotes so much time to profiting off of the audiences memory of the first, itβs also completely different plot-wise. While we hear the powerful instrumental of βReflectionβ from the first film, we watch our new Mulan use the force to kick arrows into the chest of a nameless enemy.
Yeah, I guess we should talk about the force.
MULANβS MIDI-CHLORIANS ARE OFF THE CHARTS
From literally the very first scene, Mulan is described as using Chi. Now, Iβm aware that chi is a real thing in Chinese culture. Itβs described as an underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine or martial arts. And, while it is a βforceβ that is in tune with your energy flow, the movie treats it as a midi-chlorian-style βforce that binds usβ that can be used to grant someone jedi-like abilities in dexterity.
Itβs underlying message may be one of female-empowerment, but the movie pushes very heavily that Mulan can only succeed because she has some innate supernatural ability. She is a weak fighter – everyone in the Imperial Army seems to be. But by harnessing her βinner Chiβ she can be βjust as good as the men.β Itβs very bizarre, and honestly belittles her character. Sheβs never able to take down opponents one-on-one: every single fight she takes part in ends with her βcontrolling her Chiβ to do a flip-kick and toss a spear or an arrow back into them.
The film even does a Revenge of the Sith-level side plot where a villain who has mastered their Chi tries to influence Mulan into joining the βdark side,β so that she can realize the full potential of her power.
THE HIGHEST BUDGET HALLMARK MOVIE
Obviously I felt strongly enough about this to make it the title of the review, but itβs true. The movie is all around just pretty mediocre. We followed up our viewing of Mulan by watching 2019βs The Lion King, which, letβs just say, Iβm notably not a fan of. At least with The Lion King (while upsetting that it exists), it is still just βThe Lion Kingβ so itβs a fun story with fun songs and is just fun in general. Mulan 2020 is really very different from the original film in about every aspect. This upsets me, because like I said before, that normally would be a reason that I would enjoy it. But itβs different in a few too many ways.
This is a humourless, bland, movie. There is action, the music is good. Itβs very pretty to look at. Most of the costumes are nice. But I donβt think I would ever bother watching it again because most unfortunately of all, itβs just boring.
This Mulan is the equivalent of, instead of watching the original film, someone just describes to you the original Ballad of Mulan upon which it is based. The pacing is very strange, so it feels like someone just telling the story in a very haphazard way. And, despite starring seasoned vets like Donnie Yen and Jet Li, the acting is notably bad. Aside from Jason Scott Lee, every actor here gives the most lackluster boring performances of their career. For some, like Jet Li, it feels like the only filmed one take before he just walked off set and they had to use it.
Thereβs more I could say about the plot alone, like how the villains (specifically the witch Xian Lang) are legitimately the only redeemable characters. Every member of the Imperial Army and of her own family dislikes and belittles Mulan, and she relentlessly follows them to the ends of the earth regardless. Meanwhile, the villains of the movie, donned in all black, with mysterious intent and magical witch in tow, provide a Palpatine-esque alternative that actually sounds way more appealing than what any of the other characters are offering Mulan.
IN CONCLUSION
I donβt want it to sound like this is a terrible terrible movie that is not worth anyoneβs time. Itβs not. Itβs, at worst, βokay.β But itβs also the -nth βokayβ movie that Disney has released in a row, and itβs tiresome at this point. This is objectively a better film than The Lion King, for example, but itβs so boring and bizarre that thatβs like saying an ant bite is better than a bee sting – Iβd still rather not have either.
What makes it worse, is that itβs thirty freaking dollars – or at least $29.99. Not including the Disney+ subscription that everyone who will watch this movie undoubtedly already has. Very, very few movies are worth that much, and there is absolutely no universe at all in which this one is.