By now you must know how the story goes; A fearless young woman named Fa Mulan tries to prevent her sick father from serving in the Imperial Army, stealing his sword and armor and disguising herself as a man by battling Northern invaders in China. Mulan is played by Liu Yifei, a competent actress who, earlier in the year, caused controversy by voicing discontent towards Hong Kong protesters. This has led to boycott calls of the film.
Putting all politics aside, the film itself, directed by Niki Caro (“North Country”), is bungled. The action scenes are atrocious, thanks to its confusing direction, not to mention the fact that it heavily steals its choreography from more exciting martial arts films. It also has some of the worst editing of the year. The frenetic and unnecessary snips and cuts, courtesy of David Coulson, are relentless. The PG-13 rating is pushed to the limit via intense hand-and-sword combat — one particular scene involving barbarians attacking towns along the Silk Road is brutal, despite no actual blood being shown. Too bad Coulson confuses the rhytmn by perfoming cuts every few seconds.
The rushed, and uncaring nature of Mulan 2020 shouldn’t be surprising, as it almost completely ignores the charms of the original material. Caro and Disney have decided to change the villains in this version —the Hun warlord Shan Yu has been replaced by two antagonoists in the live-action version: Jason Scott Lee’s Bori Khan and Gong Li as the shape-shifting witch Xian Lang. Both underwhelming. Gone is any of the charm or fun that Eddie Muprhy brought to his guardian dragon Mushu. In Caro’s film, Mushu is nowhere to be found and Mulan is instead guarded by a phoenix (who doesn’t talk). All of this while the Chinese actors speak their parts in English, which renders the whole thing as inauthentic and charmless as you might expect from a mass-marketed remake such as this one.
Speaking about mass consumerism, “Mulan” was set to be released in theaters back in March only to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now being sent straight to Disney+ for an additional $30 fee. However, Chinese audiences will be able to watch “Mulan” on the big screen — the film was built for the Orient demographic, itt looks like something the Chinese movie industry would conjure up with the approval and help of the Chinese Communist Party. Safe, politically benign entertainment that has all the restrictive creative hallmarks to get the full approval from President Xi. [C]
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