The Problem With the Live-Action 'Mulan'

 by Nicholas Lemieux

Some time last year, I made a blog piece on the recent influx of Disney’s live-action remakes of their beloved cartoon classics. In that article, I made my displeasure with the entire business mould exceptionally clear: whilst some of the projects showed promise of being creative reworkings of the original, for the most part the remakes came across as bland, mediocre, cash-grabs, completely relying on the dear nostalgia of its viewers to cash in on their good will. Since then, my thoughts have pretty much remained the same, although with the resounding billions of dollars attained by remakes like Aladdin and The Lion King, it seems a certainty that these remakes will become a staple part of cinemas in the years to come. And with the release of the recent Mulan remake, it’s abundantly clear they’re not running out of ideas.  

The original Mulan, while not quite one of my favourites, is still a solid Disney film. Sure, the comedy can be a little weak at times and I do wish there were a few more musical numbers, but for the most part it’s well-told story with a strong protagonist, fantastic animation and a great message, as well as some very nicely done music (seriously, they didn’t need to go all in on I'll Make a Man Out of You but they did and it slaps). Then of course, the live-action remake was announced and the internet reacted exactly as you’d expect (expletives and all).  

To be honest, in its basest form, a remake of Mulan does have some merit to it. Unlike bigger name stories like The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, the original folk tale of Mulan remains mostly obscure to Western audiences. Therefore, reworking the story of the 1998 film could’ve potentially been a great success so long as it struck the perfect balance between experimenting with new additions and plot points and retaining the spirit and charm of the original.  

Of course, that’s hardly what happened at all. Getting down to business  ̷t̷o̷ ̷d̷e̷f̷e̷a̷t̷ ̷t̷h̷e̷ ̷H̷u̷n̷s̷ to examine why this new retelling failed to resonate with audiences, one of the key criticisms, common with remakes, would be the changes made to the original story. As disappointing as removing characters such as Mushu or Shang is, considering how popular they were in the original, it could still be deemed a necessary change as long as their live-action replacements still captured the spirit of the original. Sadly however, they don’t even come close.  

Shang’s character is divided into two new characters in an effort to appeal to the Me Too movement in light of the romance between a woman and her commanding officer being seen as more uncomfortable today but in the process the character loses all subtlety and memorability. Likewise, Mushu, one of the funniest parts of the original, is replaced by a phoenix which whilst more in line with the traditional tale apparently doesn’t contribute that much to the plot and ultimately comes across as a pointless thematic device. It’s the exact same problem that affected last year’s Lion King: the more realistic they make the story, the less expressive and memorable the characters become, and as such the film’s quality takes a heavy hit. Mushu’s character was apparently removed on the basis that the filmmakers wanted the remake to take on a more realistic tone. Yet why they chose to have the main villain be a magical witch is a mystery to be sure. You could say it's almost as mysterious as the dark side of the moon. 

The new interpretation of Mulan herself  has also been a major source of derision with her reworking an almost Jedi-like character with force powers. The entire change of making Mulan into the chosen one just makes her a significantly less interesting character compared to the original’s effective depiction of her character journey. In the original, Mulan had to work hard to become a great warrior and gained most of her achievements through her intelligence and wits alone. Here, she’s practically perfect from the beginning. All in all it comes across as hammering down a poorly thought-of message to its target audience with all the force of a great typhoon (ok ok, that’s the last reference I’ll make…).  

One of the overarching messages of the film is that repressive governments and societies should be resisted against, especially in the face of the oppression of women. However, that has all been completely undermined in light of the drama surrounding lead actress Yifei Liu’s support for the police brutality in Hong Kong with #BoycottMulan quickly took off on Twitter. Whilst one could make the classical argument of distancing the artist from the work, given that Disney’s primary goal with this movie was to appease the Chinese box office, it just makes the hypocrisy of the entire situation even more dishonest.  

Even in regards to marketing to the Chinese box office,  Disney failed miserably. The film currently has a score of 4.9 out of 10 on the Chinese rating site Douban and early reactions would indicate their similar dissatisfaction with the entire project. Kung Fu Panda of all things did a better job of showing its research and respect to the Chinese culture with its fresh take mixing references to martial arts films with classic evidence. Its popularity is especially evident given how it became the first animated film to earn more than 100 million yuan at the box office. Special mention also to the Kung Fu Rabbit knockoff I watched in middle school once which I later found out was produced in China.  

In contrast, Mulan received overwhelmingly negative reviews upon its Chinese release with particular criticism for its bland story, flat characters and mishandling of certain Chinese cultural elements, in particular the interpretation of qi as a magical power. Seeing as though neither Western nor Chinese audiences have taken to the movie, it begs the question as to whom exactly this movie is meant for.  

Personally, what I found most disgusting about the entire production was the recent reports that filming took place in the province of Xinjiang, an area where at least one million Muslim Uighurs have been forcibly detained in high-security prison camps. Not helping matters was how Disney directly thanked several Chinese agencies directly involved in the alleged human rights abuses in the credits. So yeah, this movie is technically complicit in the unjust incarceration of thousands of lives. Anyone want to pay £20 now?  

At bare minimum, the only positive thing I can say about the Mulan remake from what I’ve heard is that it’s made me appreciate the original on a greater level. Bottom line is, if you really want to see it for whatever reason, do yourself a favour and wait three months so you don’t have to pay the extra fee. 

Well until next time, I’ll see you all again when Disney releases *checks list* ...a live-action  Cruella De Vil origin story? What’s that? Is that an Oscar I hear?