There are movies that are meant to be Live-Action Re-Makes and there are movies that are not. When we look at Disney’s short, but substantial run of Live-Action Re-Makes in the last few years, we have seen mixed reviews around almost all and there is a reason. There is a type of magic that has come to be associated with Disney animation over the years, singing animals, magical genies and talking lions – these all come across great in cartoon form. However, when we bring these beloved films to the studio and use real people or CGI edited doubles, we lose some of that magic that made the film so special in the first place.
The actual portrayal of, “Mulan” makes it the best adapted Live Action from Disney that we have seen in the last five years and we have seen….a lot of Re-Makes. The reason “Mulan” works is because it is constructed as a Drama. It doesn’t seem like a Disney Re-Make in the sense that it doesn’t have the key formulas that make Disney what it is. There are no sing-alongs, there are no talking dragons and there is not a lot of humor. What “Mulan” did, was take the foundational pieces of the premise and re-form into an Epic Drama where the female heroine is the center focus. The biggest reason that you re-tell a story, is because you have something more to say and “Mulan” delivers. And, to be honest, it works. The only problem, the big budget epic, was meant to be seen from the Big-Screen and we unfortunately are left to watch form Disney +.
Final Mulan Trailer:
While “Mulan” was slated to be released in March, it had a premiere and did the press, it was unfortunately pushed back due to the closure of movie theaters. For a while, “Mulan” had a theatrical release date but as the movie theaters re-opening date kept getting pushed back, Disney could not long afford to keep it on the bench. Sparking enormous debate in August, Disney announced that “Mulan” would premiere on the streaming site, Disney+. The movie viewing not only requires a subscription, but enlists at $29.99 charge to download the Premium Access to watch the movie.
This is a huge gamble, Disney banks on many blockbusters to be released in theaters and its decision to move to streaming may spark further movies to move in the same direction. Looking back at Disney blockbusters, like “Aladdin” Re-Make in 2019, it made $356M at the US Box-Office and ended up earning $1B worldwide. Disney has forgone that option due to our current circumstances and opted for streaming. In a statement from Disney in April 2020, they released the numbers stating that Disney+ has 54.5 Million subscribers on its streaming service. If just half of those subscribes buy “Mulan” to view at home for $29.99, Disney will make $817M.
Before you continue on, in case it wasn’t clear above, ““Mulan”” Live-Action does not have Mu-Shu. A moment of silence here, because Mu-Shu really was the whole package. Much of the songs and jokes that have become synonymous with the original movie have been cut to keep up with the new direction. However, the same themes of bravery and feminism are evident in Niki Caro’s Adaptation. There are still elements of the Disney magic consistent with the framework of the animation movies, one of the villains alongside Bori Khan (replacing Shan-Yu) is a witch, capable of transformation and becomes the main antagonist in the re-make that Mulan goes up against in the finale.
Still told from the perspective of Mulan, played by, Yiefi Lu, is a struggling woman trying to fit within the Chinese society and constructs at the time. Mulan ends up volunteering for the war in place of her frail and ailing father. The response to her actions is apparent and instead of stepping into her father’s place with his knowledge, she steals his papers and leaves in the night, willing to risk her own life to save his.
While the story is still very much the same, there are some differences in the storytelling that carve out its own lane. It is very clear, it is told from the feminist perspective and removes any outside clutter that distracts from this vision. An example, the character of Shane in the animated version, is missing from the Adaptation. In the animated movie, of course we know that Shane is Mulan’s Instructor and Admiral, and as they fight off the Huns, they fall in love.
Caro’s version opted to eliminate from the story, citing that the influence of the #MeToo Movement, helped make their decision to remove the character and the commander/pupil relationship from the dynamic altogether. However, there is still a love interest with Honghui, a member in her fellow squad. It is still Disney. But the scale of the re-make is epic and it is obvious that a lot of money was spent to make the battle sequences large in scale
And while there may have been some minor changes to the overall story, the same character that we loved from the 1998 version is still there. And its hard not to tear up when you hear the familiar "Reflection" movie score as Mulan drives into battle.
When Frozen premiered in 2013, many were quick to judge it as the female empowerment movie that we needed…. but that just wasn’t true. Mulan saved China. Let’s give her a little more credit here.
The Sitch Review Score: B
And that’s the sitch.
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