{"id":14836,"date":"2020-09-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=14836"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:18:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:18:41","slug":"watch-this-mulan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/watch-this-mulan\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch This: Mulan<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Disney\u2019s live-action remakes of their animated films have been called, at various points, soulless cash-grabs, a wasted creative opportunity, and an inconsistent series of updates to films that didn\u2019t need them. There\u2019s a bit of truth to all of these statements. One paradox, however, sits at the center: any adaptation or remake of a well-known property should stand on its own merits, not just how well it parrots beloved lines or scenes. For these remakes, however, the original films are so ingrained in the culture that to repeat their iconic elements verbatim feels like a failed exercise, but to remove any of them is disappointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Niki Caro\u2019s take on Disney\u2019s Mulan<\/em> is an example of this paradox in action. It\u2019s a solid martial arts adventure that follows a similar plot to the 1998 animated film, and hews slightly closer to the ancient Chinese poem that film adapted. Caro and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver make creative choices that strengthen some of the story\u2019s themes as well. However, it\u2019s difficult–bordering on impossible–to watch the movie without missing some of what\u2019s been cut. This Mulan<\/em> is still good, but it\u2019s also the most straight-laced of the Disney remakes thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caro\u2019s film takes the form of a Wuxia epic (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon<\/em>), using balletic martial arts and swordplay to tell its familiar story. Mulan (Yifei Liu) is a tomboy whose family fears she\u2019ll never bring them honor via an advantageous marriage. When the Rouran army–led by Jason Scott Lee\u2019s B\u00f6ri Khan–invades, the Emperor (Jet Li) conscripts a man from every family into the army. Mulan\u2019s father (Tigertail\u2019s <\/em>Tzi Ma) is too old to fight, so Mulan dresses as a man and goes in his place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Caro\u2019s film adds another character who brings an extra layer of subtext to the proceedings. Xianniang (Gong Li), is a female warrior with shape-changing abilities, who\u2019s been cast out from her own village and spies for B\u00f6ri Khan. The film puts her in conflict with Mulan not just in a military sense, but also as part of Mulan\u2019s inner struggle with a society that tells her fighting and expressing anger are only acceptable behaviors for men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are many interesting ideas at play in Caro\u2019s Mulan<\/em>, and it might seem petty to ding the film for not including many of the elements that make the 1998 movie such a delight–namely, the musical numbers. However, you can\u2019t really watch this film without being reminded in some sense or another that the other version does exist. With every subtle line reference or musical call-out in Harry Gregson-Williams\u2019 score (there are many), it\u2019s hard not to wish you were watching the 1998 movie, if only so you could belt out \u201cReflection\u201d or \u201cI\u2019ll Make a Man Out of You\u201d alongside the characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a comparatively minor quibble, though, considering how strong the rest of the film is. Caro\u2019s remake hits the elements of a good Wuxia movie, including gravity-defying stunts, striking colors and gorgeous natural settings. It also goes deeper on the empowering elements of the original, considering the way a patriarchal society treats women who don\u2019t fit into strict boundaries. This Mulan<\/em> has so much on its mind, in fact, that it neglects the distinctly Disney elements that so many viewers are drawn to. However, if you can get past the nagging wish for a rousing chorus of \u201cHonor to us All,\u201d or annoyance over a distinct lack of plucky animal familiars, you\u2019ll find plenty to respect and enjoy here. \"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disney\u2019s latest live-action remake (available at premium pricing on Disney+) stumbles a bit in the transition, but the new film\u2019s fresh (and refined) elements are worth your consideration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":577,"featured_media":14839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[340],"tags":[1098,162,1436,1425],"class_list":["post-14836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-movie-review","tag-movies","tag-reviews","tag-watch-this"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22734,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14836\/revisions\/22734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}