YMMV / Mulan (2020)

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Due to Böri Khan not having any interactions with any Rouran women (indeed, there is little to indicate Xianniang is Rouran as well), some have seen an ethnic-based prejudice on his part towards Xianniang and Mulan, who is Chinese, in addition to or instead of a gender based prejudice. In the case of Mulan, it even seems to be age based with his use of the words "girl", rather than woman, and "child". Of course, having multiple prejudices just makes him far worse.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: While people have correctly pointed out that there was no sorceress in the original ballad, their errors come in from the fact that the 1850 novel "The Fierce and Filial Girl from Northern Wei" did in fact feature a sorceress amongst the antagonists. True, she is not an entirely accurate portrayal culturally, but even then, it is not like a previous retelling has never featured a sorceress or even magic.
• Awesome Music: Both the teaser trailer and especially the official trailer contain an incredible instrumental version of "Reflection".
• Broken Aesop: While Mulan in the animated film and the original ballad has to struggle and work hard to prove herself, this version has a natural talent thanks to her chi and is immediately a master in everything and even if the movie says that those same traits would be praised in a man, whereas they are scorned in women like Mulan and Xianniang, an attitude that is justly presented as a bad thing, the only woman who's scorned is the witch, and it happens for justifiable reasons since she uses her powers for evil purposes.
• Catharsis Factor: After a wait of over 20 years, watching the Matchmaker witness the praise lavished upon Mulan is the sweetest wine.
• Critical Dissonance: As shown by the very contrasting scores on Rotten Tomatoes (critic approval: 72%; audience approval: 48%), reviewers were much more positive than viewers, who would not be forgiving to a movie that lacked what they liked in the animated version.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Mulan/Xianniang is easily more popular than implied to be canon Mulan/Chen on almost every site, due to many feeling that they have better chemistry and Xianniang's attempts to convince Mulan to join her, before sacrificing herself to save Mulan. It helps that Xian is a fan favorite, while Chen is often seen as Replacement Scrappy for Li Shang.
• Fight Scene Failure: Because of an excessive number of cuts, strange angles and a badly-done montage, the fight scenes are consistently described as impossible to follow.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some of Gong Li's substantial fan base tuned in just for her, as she had taken a step back in The New '10s, and this was one of her comeback films.
• Les Yay: Mulan and Xianniang are becoming a popular pairing. Xianniang attempts to seduce her to the dark side and even tenderly strokes Mulan's sword and brushes her hair out of her face while they fight. Xianniang even sacrifices herself to save Mulan and dies in her arms. Xianniang's name also calls to mind Dou Xiannang, Mulan's fellow Action Girl and "sworn sister" in some versions of the story, itself a relationship with a great deal of Ho Yay.
• Magnificent Bastard: Xianniang is a witch who, exiled from her home due to her great power, seeks to form a new society where people like her will be viewed as equal. Allying herself with Rouran warlord Böri Khan during his invasion of China, Xianniang uses both her powers and battle prowess to help topple China's military garrisons, while also using her shape-shifting abilities to infiltrate the Imperial City and manipulate The Emperor into gathering troops to battle the invaders. Meeting Mulan in battle, Xianniang sees through her disguise and reveals that the attacks were merely a diversion to draw troops away from the Imperial City. Infiltrating the palace in the guise of the Chancellor, Xianniang tricks the Emperor into leaving the safety of the palace and falling into Böri Khan's trap. Later, upon seeing how Mulan has been accepted by the army despite her gender and realizing that there is a place for people like her, Xianniang aids Mulan in defeating Böri Khan, sacrificing her life in the process.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • After the first trailer, Chinese netizens joked that the red symbol painted on Mulan's forehead is the Huawei logo.
  • A video of a French cinema owner going amok and smashing up a Mulan cutout with a baseball bat after Disney announced that the movie would be a Disney+ exclusive in most parts of the world.
  • Dulan, no Mulan^note Pidgin slang combining Hokkien ('dulan' is an expression of frustration in Hokkien, literally meaning mad) and English for mad there's no Mulan- after videos of the above French cinema owner reached Malaysian shores, Malaysian Chinese folks started memeing that rhyme. While Malaysian theaters are screening Mulan due to the lack of Disney+ in the country^note although there were initial fears that theaters would not be reopened in time for the screening during the initial lockdown when the Malaysian government mandated that "entertainment venues" like cinemas cannot operate until further notice, ticket prices were exorbitant at peak hours due to needing to cut down the amount of seats to ensure social distancing because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • "THIS SHOT IS BRILLIANT AND SHOULD BE SHOWN IN ANY FILM STUDY CLASS." ^note Jokes about the similarity between a "Spread Wings" Frame Shot of Mulan with phoenix wings behind her and another such shot featuring Daenerys and her dragon.
  • (WOMAN SCREAMING) (CHICKEN CLUCKING)^note Subtitles from an early scene in the film that went viral in one of the Twitter threads recapping the film.
• Narm:
  • Jet Li's gruff delivery of the line "Crush these murderers!" coming off as silly and a far cry from the more composed Emperor of the animated film.
  • The sheer amount of time Mulan spends talking with her own inner monologue, which clearly exists because taking out Mushu leaves her with no one to talk to for a significant chunk of the film and they couldn't think of anything better to put there.
  • In the final battle with Böri Kahn, Mulan's sword gets destroyed. While it was meant to be sad as it belonged to her father, Mulan's lack of reaction kind of undermines it.
  • Xianniang's Stupid Sacrifice. She is a witch who could use her magic abilities to stir the arrow fired at Mulan off-course or block it non-fatally by transforming into a large flock of birds. Instead, she decides to Take The Bullet.
  • One scene of Rouran attack on a city early on is so weirdly paced it looks like an unintentional homage to Lancelot's one-man charge at a castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It even perfectly synchs up with its soundtrack.
• Older Than They Think:
  • This is not a musical, unlike the previous set of remakes. In fact, the original 90s version was planned to not be a musical too - but Executive Meddling made it so, to stick to the successful formula of the Renaissance movies.
  • Mulan having a sister is not new to the film, as some versions of the original ballad mention that Mulan had an older sister and a younger brother.
  • Having one of the characters be a Khan is not unusual. The original story was set during the Northern Wei dynasty, whose monarch was referred to as a Khan and the invading force originated from the Rouran Khaganate. In the retelling featured in the Sui-Tang Romance, Mulan is the subject of Heshana Khan; the Burbank film released the same year as the animated Disney film had her as the subject of an unspecified Khan and in the animated series The Adventures of the Young Marco Polo, she is a subject of Kublai Khan.
  • One of the villains being a sorceress goes as far back as the 1850 novel "The Fierce and Filial Girl from Northern Wei", though the character there was named "Huang Fengshan" and did not undergo a Heel–Face Turn.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: In the Western world, the film was overshadowed by controversies related to its main actress and Disney's collaboration with the Chinese government, during a tense time in relations between China and the US. First, lead star Liu Yifei shared an image posted by the official Communist Party newspaper People's Daily which implied she supported crackdowns by police against anti-extradition protesters in Hong Kong, which led to Yifei dropping out of the 2019 D23 Expo. Then, months prior to the film's release, it emerged that Disney had collaborated with four government agencies and the public security bureau in the region of Xinjiang, where the government is accused of carrying out an ongoing campaign of cultural genocide against the Muslim Uyghur population. The end result was a film accused by some of being Chinese nationalist propaganda and #BoycottMulan became a popular hashtag. Meanwhile on the other side of the fence, Chinese audiences accused Disney of appropriating Chinese culture. The backlash got so great, that the Chinese government actually halted all coverage of the movie for a time. Then the COVID-19 Pandemic hit just prior to its March 2020 release date.
• Replacement Scrappy: Both Commander Tung and Chen Honghui are seen as this next to Li Shang. Given that Shang is one of the most well-liked of the male love interests in Disney canon (being a manly character who's also Ambiguously Bi and a Mr. Fanservice), they had a lot to live up to, and generally, Tung comes across as forgettable, while Chen ends up with all of Shang's bad traits and few of his good ones. The loss of the Sweet on Polly Oliver elements hurt Chen particularly badly, as it means he goes from hating Mulan to loving her with the primary change in-between being the revelation that she's been lying to him, while Shang's relationship with Mulan had a clear arc to it.
• So Okay, It's Average: While praised for being a retelling of the original story, rather than another carbon copy of the animated movie like The Lion King (2019), many fans and critics agree that the movie is missing something to make it truly enjoyable. Common complaints were lackluster action, Mulan’s bland characterization, removal of several emotional plot beats, and lacking the comic relief of the original, which made for a relatively dull experience. And given its release was made under a hefty price tag, many reviewers didn't find it worthy of having to spend $30 on top of a Disney+ subscription.
• Tainted by the Preview: Apart from the trailer that was released, many fans of the animated Mulan became apprehensive about the live-action remake after hearing about a number of changes that were made to the story. Casting information revealed some characters from the animated film like Shang and Shan-Yu were removed or replaced by different characters, with additional characters such as Mulan having a sister. Also the previews make no mention of Mushu.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Due to the inclusion of a witch wielding magic on the side of the invaders, which is definitely not part of the source material, many accusations of hypocrisy have been generated towards Disney's statement regarding the removal of Shang and Mushu under the reasoning that it was due to being faithful to the original source material.
  • Mulan being The Chosen One instead of becoming a greater warrior through hard work and intelligence was also met with a lot of criticism. In the original film, Mulan was not a strong warrior, she was just a normal person who joined the army to save her father from doing so, and had to survive by getting stronger, both physically and mentally. The new movie makes Mulan a gifted fighter from a young age with the ability to use Chi to give her essentially "superpowers" who can best other warriors in open combat. Many felt this change created a less interesting and relatable character, who doesn't actually need to try hard and prove her abilities since she's practically perfect from the start. This undermines the message of empowerment as it could be read as "you're special only if you're born this way" rather than "anyone can become special if they believe and work hard to become it".
  • The movie's characterization of Mulan compared to the original received lots of criticism as well. The original Mulan was defined by her cleverness, being established as very resourceful and quick-thinking - and it is those traits that help her out most in training and later in battle. It allows Mulan to succeed on her own merits, setting her apart from the men. In addition a reasonable amount of trial and error is shown, with Mulan starting off a fallible and even rather Adorkable protagonist that earns her rank from the bottom (thus averting Flawless Token tropes). The remake's Mulan however is characterized by being physically stronger, basically a One-Woman Army with no flaws who seems as though she could beat all of the Huns singlehandedly. The result is a much blander role model character, where there's no tension about whether or not she'll succeed.
  • Ironically, despite being physically stronger, this version of Mulan is very submissive, something that many viewers did not take kindly to. In the original film, while Mulan is certainly respectful of her society's rules, much of her angst comes from the problems that are caused by it as well as her unconventional nature. In this film, Mulan is utterly loyal to her society to the point that it comes across as Blind Obedience, even stating that her place is her duty "to fight for the kingdom and protect the emperor.” Notably, it is she who bows to the emperor at the end of the film and asks for permission to return home, rather than the Emperor and the crowd of people bowing to her in respect for saving China in the original film. The fact that this film ends with the Emperor's guard insisting she returns to his service and her not-so-subtly implied acceptance certainly does not help matters. As it was put by a negative review, "Live-action Mulan doesn’t challenge the status quo. She is the status quo."
  • The removal of the Sweet on Polly Oliver aspects got a lot of this, as queer readings of the original film (particularly Li Shang being bisexual) were very common. According to the writers, this was done after the MeToo movement due to the potential issues in what they saw as a "unfair power dynamic between a male captain and a female subordinate", but many fans felt it was a poor reason to cut him from the film since Shang doesn't even learn Mulan was a girl till near the film’s end, and the film ends with a Maybe Ever After when the war is over and he's no longer her captain. Many also pointed out that the “unfair power dynamic” could have been resolved by having Li Shang be an ordinary soldier of equal rank and status to Mulan, as opposed to eliminating his character entirely.
  • Many fans dislike the change of Shan Yu. Instead of being one of the few male characters who isn't sexist, Böri Khan is pretty much the film's personification of misogyny. It comes off as unnecessary, as if the film's message against sexism is damaged by its main villain not being sexist.
  • The iconic scene in which Mulan cuts her hair in the original animated film is completely omitted from the film. A lot of viewers felt like it robbed the movie of what could have been an emotionally powerful scene. Even Ming-Na Wen, the voice actress of the animated Mulan, playfully threw shade at the removal of this scene.
  • The removal of the song numbers from the original was widely decried, as at least the other live-action remakes made an attempt to incorporate all of theirs. "Reflection" is played during the credits, but the others are only alluded to in dialogue as Mythology Gags. So those hoping to see a live-action recreation of the legendary "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sequence will leave feeling disappointed.
• Uncertain Audience: Since it was marketed heavily to both Western and Chinese audiences, the film did its best to cater to both, with mixed results.
  • In the West, many fans were expecting the live-action adaptation to be at least somewhat faithful to the original animated film like the other Disney live-action adaptations. However, the live-action film removes most of the elements that made the animated film so popular, such as the iconic musical numbers and Mushu's comedic performance, while at the same time making significant changes to the story. These changes have been heavily criticized by fans of the animated film, who didn't like even having Mythology Gag moments such as inserting the song lyrics as quotes.
  • In China, the movie arguably fared even worse, with many criticising the questionable creative liberties with Chinese culture, the disappointing fight scenes, and the plot being essentially a western-influenced narrative with Chinese elements (some of which were seen as extremely dated) clumsily crammed in. To many Chinese audiences, the film didn't offer anything that differentiates itself from the countless locally made Wuxia films and Mulan adaptations. To make matters worse, because of the controversy surrounding the film in the West, Chinese authorities banned media coverage of the film and even delisted the film as a search term on several major Chinese social media sites.

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