I will not lie, I started watching this movie with very low expectations. I've just finished watching it and, surprisingly, it was a pleasant experience. It's similar enough that can be considered a remake of the original, and different enough that can be considered its own thing, a good combo.
The first half was boring and, sometimes, cringe-worthy. You can really tell they're trying to hammer down the Politically Incorrect History when you have characters throwing out keywords like "You're a woman, know your place. Silence your voice. Look, there's two rabbits, one is a male and one is a female, but there's virtually no difference!" Subtlety is completely dead, at least in the beginning. The second half, or at least, from the moment Mulan joins the army, that's where things start getting good.
The removal of classic songs don't really bother me, but I will say they cheat often by playing instrumental reprises. I do have a problem with Disney's insistence to make things "realistic," while at the same time, including things that are even more unrealistic in the original. There's a witch character, a magic phoenix that keeps showing up at random and Mulan is magically gifted or something.
I will say, I am offended that they have removed Shang and replaced him by a Suspiciously Similar Substitute, what was even the point of that? I mean, if you're going the "I am a strong independent woman who needs no love interest" path, stick to it. Don't chicken out by removing a character and adding another that is essentially the same.
The biggest flaw of the movie, however, is its botched moral: As mentioned before, the movie will often hammer down the message that men and women are equal, and that Mulan being a woman makes no real difference. But then, the movie takes two steps backwards by revealing that Mulan was a badass from birth. That was, by far, the most insulting aspect of this movie.
In the original, Mulan proved that men and women were equal because she trained under the same conditions and was on the same level as her male counterparts. She developed and earned her status as a badass as a side-effect of her will to bring honor to her family. In this movie, Mulan starts as a gifted badass since she's a child, greatly surpassing her male counterparts in combat. And everybody shuns her for it, because she's a woman and she can't be a badass. And she turns into a badass not because of her training, but because she suddenly decides to be true to her womanhood. The movie shamelessly ruined its own message in the first five minutes and it really hurt Mulan's strength as a character.
But for all its flaws, it was a worthwhile watch. The movie kept me greatly entertained and rooting for the main characters, which I guess is all that matters in the end. It lives in the shadow of the original, but it's not bad either.
Film Surprisingly decent
I will not lie, I started watching this movie with very low expectations. I've just finished watching it and, surprisingly, it was a pleasant experience. It's similar enough that can be considered a remake of the original, and different enough that can be considered its own thing, a good combo.
The first half was boring and, sometimes, cringe-worthy. You can really tell they're trying to hammer down the Politically Incorrect History when you have characters throwing out keywords like "You're a woman, know your place. Silence your voice. Look, there's two rabbits, one is a male and one is a female, but there's virtually no difference!" Subtlety is completely dead, at least in the beginning. The second half, or at least, from the moment Mulan joins the army, that's where things start getting good.
The removal of classic songs don't really bother me, but I will say they cheat often by playing instrumental reprises. I do have a problem with Disney's insistence to make things "realistic," while at the same time, including things that are even more unrealistic in the original. There's a witch character, a magic phoenix that keeps showing up at random and Mulan is magically gifted or something.
I will say, I am offended that they have removed Shang and replaced him by a Suspiciously Similar Substitute, what was even the point of that? I mean, if you're going the "I am a strong independent woman who needs no love interest" path, stick to it. Don't chicken out by removing a character and adding another that is essentially the same.
The biggest flaw of the movie, however, is its botched moral: As mentioned before, the movie will often hammer down the message that men and women are equal, and that Mulan being a woman makes no real difference. But then, the movie takes two steps backwards by revealing that Mulan was a badass from birth. That was, by far, the most insulting aspect of this movie.
In the original, Mulan proved that men and women were equal because she trained under the same conditions and was on the same level as her male counterparts. She developed and earned her status as a badass as a side-effect of her will to bring honor to her family. In this movie, Mulan starts as a gifted badass since she's a child, greatly surpassing her male counterparts in combat. And everybody shuns her for it, because she's a woman and she can't be a badass. And she turns into a badass not because of her training, but because she suddenly decides to be true to her womanhood. The movie shamelessly ruined its own message in the first five minutes and it really hurt Mulan's strength as a character.
But for all its flaws, it was a worthwhile watch. The movie kept me greatly entertained and rooting for the main characters, which I guess is all that matters in the end. It lives in the shadow of the original, but it's not bad either.
I give it 7/10.