Arguably the best Disney live-action remake so far, Mulan is a sweeping, epic historical fantasy, which takes the traditional Chinese folk tale and gives it a sense of scale and mythology, with some truly cinematic battle sequences.

Premise: As Imperial China comes under attack from the nomadic warlord Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee) and his ally the shapeshifting witch Xianniang (Gong Li), the Emperor (Jet Li) decrees that one man from each household must be conscripted to defend the Empire. Fearing that her injured father wouldn’t survive going to war, headstrong and rebellious Hua Mulan (Yifei Liu) disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the Imperial Army.

Review:

I’ve said before that I don’t really see the point of remaking existing Disney animated classics, unless you’re really going to bring something new to the screen. For all its flaws, at least the 2019 remake of Dumbo did something new with the 64-minute animated film by expanding the original story, whereas the live-action versions of The Lion King and Cinderella, for example, just felt like shot-for-shot remakes made with improved VFX.

This live-action remake of Mulan, on the other hand, feels like it finds a fresh take on the source material, while also paying homage to the 1998 animated version with a couple of interesting cameos. Indie director Niki Caro and her writing team (including Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who wrote the excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes among other films) went back to the original Chinese folk tale for inspiration, rather than the Disney animation – so, for example, Mulan’s original name is restored (Hua Mulan, not Fa Mulan), and Eddie Murphy’s wisecracking dragon sidekick is replaced instead with epic battle sequences. The central themes of finding your own identity, and of fighting prejudices and society’s expectations, remain however.

“…the scale of ‘Mulan’ is unlike any of the previous Disney live-action remakes…”

What is apparent from the outset is that the scale of Mulan is unlike any of the previous Disney live-action remakes. Shot on location in New Zealand and China, the huge vistas and breath-taking landscapes give the film a real sense of scale, and although many scenes have obviously been augmented with CGI (I don’t think Disney really rebuilt the entire Imperial City), there is also a feel that much of the action and sets have been done practically.

This is equally true for the training and battle sequences, which are particularly well-staged. Although the film earns a 12A rating with its relatively family-friendly bloodless combat, the battle scenes are well choreographed, with a sense that the actors are performing much of it themselves. The grime and chaos of the battle scenes are nicely juxtaposed with the beauty of the natural surroundings, which makes for some genuinely cinematic sequences. It’s been reported that with a production budget of $200m, Mulan is the most expensive film ever made by a female director – if that is true, then at least you can clearly see on screen where all the money has gone.

“…Yifei Liu is surrounded by a cast of legendary Chinese actors…”

The decision to cast the film with an entirely ethnic appropriate cast was a breath of fresh air after recent “whitewashing” scandals in Hollywood, and Yifei Liu is more than up to the task of carrying the movie with her star-making performance. She is surrounded by a cast of legendary Chinese actors and actors of Chinese descent, including Donnie Yen as Mulan’s commanding officer, Jet Li as the Emperor, Jason Scott Lee as the invading warlord, and Tzi Ma and Rosalind Chao as Mulan’s parents. Gong Li’s performance as the outcast sorceress Xianniang also deserves special mention, as she brings a lot of depth to the film’s most interesting subplot.

The film balances its shifting tones well, and incorporates some surprisingly effective comedy into key scenes with Mulan’s family, and her “brothers-in-arms” in the Imperial Army. If the film has one weakness, it’s that its script is arguably a little flat, as a lot of the characters’ dialogue feels either functional or expositional, rather than genuine or natural. That said, the tone of the film is the heightened reality of fairy tales and legends, where it is not unusual for characters to talk in very grandiose ways, so it doesn’t feel that out of place.

“…an epic fantasy that successfully combines the massive scale of Mulan’s adventures with the intimacy of her personal journey…”

I couldn’t review Mulan without at least mentioning the controversial decision to release the film via the Disney+ streaming service, instead of giving it a proper cinematic release. Given the impact of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic, it is perhaps understandable on the one hand that Disney may have felt there wouldn’t be enough cinema-goers for the film to break even at the box office; but on the other hand, cinemas are open (in the UK at least) and are struggling, and a big family-friendly blockbuster like Mulan could have been just what they needed. There are probably no easy answers, but I am left worried that the release of Mulan on Disney+ could set a dangerous precedent for films to bypass cinemas, and I’m also disappointed that I may never get to see such a clearly cinematic film on the big screen.

Overall, Mulan is live-action Disney film that doesn’t feel like a live-action Disney film (I believe it is the first one to receive a 12A rating), and your opinion of the film may depend on how you react to that sentence. Personally, I really enjoyed that this remake took the original concept and transformed it into an ethically accurate, epic fantasy that successfully combines the massive scale of Hua Mulan’s adventures with the intimacy of her family relationships and her personal journey of self-discovery.