Mulan (Live Action)

    When it was first announced that there was going to be a live-action adaptation of the animated movie Mulan I was ecstatic. But my hope and excitement quickly vanished as it was announced that Mushu, a famous character voiced by Eddie Murphy would not be returning. It was also announced that the movie would not perform any songs from the original movie. At this point, I threw in the towel and decided not to watch the movie. Although eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to watch the movie.

    The movie began by describing how Mulan (Liu Lifei) was born with this special power also known as chi. It is made very apparent that Mulan was not like other girls and longed to be like her father. Because of how different she is Mulan disgraces her family in her failed meeting with the village matchmaker. 

    Just like the animated movie China is under attack by northern invaders. But in this version, they are under attack by the Rouran Warriors who are aided by a witch. This witch is named Xian Lang (Gong Li) and is focused on helping Rouran Leader Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee) take the Imperial city so she no longer has to live in shame. Because of this threat, the Emperor (Jet Li) ordered that one man from every family must join the Imperial Army. But Mulan's father was badly injured in the previous war and would most likely perish if he were to fight. So disguised as a man Mulan takes his place. 

    Of course from here the movie gives the famous training montage of the "boys" becoming men. It also shows us how Mulan is able to hide as Hua Jun the fake son of her father. But the impending danger of Bori Khan forces them to end their training and confront the Rouran warriors. During the conflict, Mulan is separated from her comrades and is attacked by the witch. During the fight, Mulan realizes that she can no longer keep up the charade. After the witch knocks her out and lets her live Mulan returns to the battle and saves her cornered comrades.

     It is then when she reveals to them that she is a woman. Commander Tung (Donnie Yen) banishes Mulan from the unit and threatens her to never show her face again. On the way back to her village Xian Lang reveals herself to Mulan once again and tells her that the battle was a diversion and that the real attack was on the Imperial City. After receiving the information Mulan rushes back to her battalion and convinces them to help her stop Bori Khan. The group fights their way into the city and helps Mulan reach the future palace where Bori Khan has captured the Emperor. It is there the final fight unfolds. Mulan is able to come out on top and save the Emporer but at the cost of Xian Lang who sacrifices her own life to save her.

    Throughout the movie, there were a lot of ups and a lot of downs. From the beginning, it was clear that this film would not have the same tone as its animated counterpart. The animated movie was a bit more light-hearted and shined when it came to comedy and its musical scenes. This movie didn't have much of that. Instead, the live-action was much more serious in my opinion. But where the live-action lacked in comedy and music it partly made up for it with its fight scenes. It was through these fight scenes where we saw just how strong of a warrior Mulan was. And that she deserved just as much respect as her male comrades. This movie was also chock full of amazing actors who were able to uplift the movie at times.

    This live-action film also fell quite flat in some areas. While some of the action scenes were quite fun to watch others were very cringeworthy. The use of CGI was all too obvious in some of these scenes. Because of this, it was much harder to follow what exactly was going on. 

    In my opinion, this live-action storyline fell flat. The first Mulan movie was the story of an ordinary girl who was faced with challenge after challenge. She failed time and time again, but ultimately she was able to grow stronger and defeat those challenges. Thus showing everyone just how strong women can be. From the jump, the live-action version gives Mulan these special powers that she has to hide. As a result, the trial and tribulations she faces seem unimportant. The lack of character development is a downside in this movie. But if there is ond thing that this film teaches you it is the importance of truth, value, loyalty, and family. Without this code, an individual could never truly be themselves.

    Ultimately I give this movie a 6.3/10. Although it is massively disappointing that Eddie Murphy's character Mushu and the famous songs were excluded from the film it was still a fun watch. And I would recommend you watch it if you haven't already.